In October 2015, the MSRS organised an International Conference of Russian-speaking Lawyers. The conference saw the establishment of the International Association of Russian-speaking Lawyers (MAR), which is intended to become “an important legal instrument for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of Russian compatriots and the Russian Federation in various countries around the world”.  It is implied that ‘Russian compatriots’ in various countries around the world are subject to discrimination and require special protection from a dedicated organisation of lawyers established in Moscow. MARA was established on the initiative of the International Council of Russian Compatriots ‘with the participation of representatives of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Rossotrudnichestvo, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, the Guild of Russian Lawyers and other organisations and agencies’. 
Officially, MARA has 180 members from more than 60 countries around the world; in reality, however, it is just as much a front organisation – that is, a pseudo-civil society organisation – as the MSRS, serving as an offshoot of the Moscow security services. 
A situation where one front international organisation establishes another, also ostensibly a civil society organisation, and so on, is very characteristic of the Kremlin’s methods of operation abroad. 
In 2020, the president of MARA, Hasan Borisovich Mirzoev, became chairman of the MSRS; judging by the titles listed in his official biographies, he is a typical pro-government charlatan from the security services.    
According to the MSRS website, it comprises 137 organisations from 50 countries around the world.
The stated aims of the MSRS were, as usual, demagogic: ‘…the consolidation of the Russian diaspora; the coordination of the activities of public associations and organisations of compatriots in the interests of preserving ethnic identity, national and religious distinctiveness, and the spiritual and cultural heritage of the indigenous peoples of Russia;… the promotion of the Russian language and culture abroad;… fostering a love for the Motherland amongst compatriots… shaping a favourable attitude towards the activities of the MSRS in public opinion in foreign countries’.  
The MSRS’s actual activities were limited to organising various kinds of ceremonial events and award ceremonies. Apparently, this was deemed insufficient, which is why the Second Congress of Russian Compatriots was convened in 2006, at which the creation of yet another organisation was announced – one with a very similar name but a completely different structure and working methods.