[3] Numerous extremist cells similar to BORN participated in militaristic training and embarked on violent campaigns of attacks towards their perceived opponents: typically non-Slavic immigrants, radical anti-fascist protesters, Jewish persons, left-wing activists who opposed racism, ethnic Gypsies, members of the LGBT community, Muslims - and, to a lesser extent, civilians with stigmatized lifestyle situations such as transients or prostitutes.
[12] It is alleged that Goryachev maintained connections with high-ranking Kremlin personnel in Russia’s presidential administration who knowingly turned a blind eye to the group's illicit actions.
[17] A human rights lawyer and a journalist, Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, were gunned down by BORN member Nikita Tikhonov in broad daylight on 19 January 2009.
On 12 April 2010, federal city court judge Eduard Chuvashov [ru] of the Moscow City Court, who handed down a verdict in the case of the murders of Markelov and Baburova, was murdered by BORN member Alexei Korshunov, who fired gunshots into his chest and head..[20][27][28] Chuvashov was selected by the group on account that he had issued numerous guilty verdicts on dozens of high-profile criminal cases involving hate crimes.
[29] Prior to his demise, many Russian far-right political figures and like-minded untranationalist organizations similar to BORN had called for Eduard Chuvashov to be killed.
[12] In 2011, Tikhonov, one of the organization's leaders and founders, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of Markelov and Baburova, and his roommate Yevgenia Khasis received 18 years in a penal colony.
[37] The members of BORN were charged with racketeering, illicit arms trafficking and several counts of mission-oriented killings, in addition to attempted murder of law enforcement personnel.
[38] The Supreme Court of Russia sentenced Goryachev to life imprisonment on 24 July 2015 after he was found guilty for ordering five killings, creating and running an extremist cell, and illegal possession of firearms.