Established in January 2002 as a federation of anarchist groups, it published the Avtonom magazine, coordinated anti-fascist patrols and organised veches as forms of popular assembly.

[1] In 1995, anarchists in the Kuban region began publishing the magazine Avtonom, which over time expanded to become a periodical that represented the entire Russian autonomous movement.

In January 2002, delegates met at a congress in Nizhny Novgorod, where Autonomous Action (Russian: Автономное действие, romanized: Avtonomnoye Deystviye; AD) was established.

[1] Avtonom was made the official organ of the new organisation and it set up the website avtonom.org, where internet users could self-publish their own articles;[4] Russian courts later deemed the publication to be "extremist" and banned it from distribution.

[8] In 2012, the Russian state annulled the residence permit of Avtonom editor Antti Rautiainen [fi] and deported him to Finland, causing the AD to lose one of its leading organisers.