Founded in Donetsk in 1994, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and independence of Ukraine, the organisation spread throughout the country and was involved with a number of students' and workers' movements.

Noted for its strict military discipline and hierarchical structure, the RKAS was often criticised for authoritarianism and conservatism by other members of the anarchist movement, some of whom likened it to a cult of personality.

[2] The RKAS quickly joined the nascent Ukrainian workers' movements,[4] gaining particular prominence within the Donbas miners' unions and strike committees.

[2] It was also active in cooperative initiatives,[6] transport workers' unions,[7] and the student movement;[8] and was noted for its summer training camps and engagement in street fights against the Ukrainian far-right.

The RKAS entered into organisational remission the following year, but reconstituted itself by 2007 with the publication of a new programme inspired by the statues of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

[9] The RKAS has been criticised for a perceived authoritarianism and conservatism,[11] particularly due to its practice of strict military discipline and maintenance of a hierarchical structure,[12] as well as its suspicion of postmodernism.

[13] In an interview, one prospective member spoke of a "hierarchical and authoritarian" culture that they observed at an RKAS summer camp, reporting that "they have some rituals where (the) woman within the movement feeds their master, Samurai".

[17] The MSA denounced what they saw as a "dictatorship" within the RKAS leadership, and attempted to form a rival organisation, although Shevchenko claims that it ended up functionally defunct by June 2014.

[22] Some former members established "illegal combat groups" to conduct guerrilla warfare against the separatists in Donbas, while others aided refugees from the region.