Kiev ‘Elevating’ the Stakes with Cross-Border Attacks Using Neo-Nazis

 

by Kyle Anzalone | Jun 19, 2023

Russian Volunteer Corps commander Denis Kapustin near the Russian border in Ukraine on May 24. The man next to him is wearing a neo-Nazi patch

A neo-Nazi-aligned militant leading cross-border raids into Russia using American military equipment told the Washington Post that his forces were escalating tensions with Moscow. An allied militia is preparing a new constitution for Russia after it helps to overthrow the Vladimir Putin government. While Kiev denies public support for the militia, behind the scenes, Ukrainian officials are seeking to expand the operations. 

The Russian Volunteer Corps, led by Denis Kapustin, is one of the two paramilitaries conducting operations inside Russian territory. In an interview published on YouTube, he said, “These are full-scale attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation while it is under the occupation of the Kremlin regime,” adding, “The stakes are getting higher — and we are elevating them.”

The Post mentions that members of the RVC have extremist ideas, including its leader. Kapustin “is a former Moscow fight promoter with a history of violent extremism. In 2019, he was banned from Western Europe for rightist sports hooligan activities,” according to the outlet. Kapustin described his militia members as “conservative, traditional and probably also socialist.” In a photo published by the Post, Kapustin is seated next to a fighter wearing a black sun, a neo-nazi symbol. 

The second paramilitary is the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL), led by Ilya Ponomarev, a former member of the Russian State Duma. The FRL is presented as more moderate than the RVC, but one of its members acknowledged he was a part of a “radical rightist opposition group” before joining the legion. Most members of the militias are Russians but have aligned with Kiev in the war. 

The two groups work together, according to Ponomarev. We have no time to debate politics,” he said. “We are both here to defeat Putinism.” Ponomarev says the goal is to form a new Russian government, and he was drawing up a new constitution. 

The FRL leader says the goal of the cross-border attacks is to win over the Russian people. “We want to win hearts and minds, but for now that is irrelevant. It will only become important the day we enter Moscow,” he explained. One fighter in the legion echoed his leader’s sentiment. “We are their liberators and we want to free Russia.” As for Putin, he said, “This time we have to cut off the head of the tyrant.”

The fighter said the FRL was not made up of “bandits and terrorists.” However, the RVC hopes to intimidate Russian citizens with cross-border attacks. The militia’s “aim is to give Russian civilians a taste of the death and destruction that President Vladimir Putin’s war has wrought on Ukraine, and to show that Putin is failing to keep the Russian motherland safe.” 

Kiev has tried to keep its distance from the paramilitaries. The legion claims to be “under the leadership of the Ukrainian command.” Its members report high-level contacts in the Ukrainian military, and Kiev pays them. Although, Kapustin says the RVC is not connected to Kiev’s armed forces. 

A former senior Ukrainian intelligence official told the Post in an interview that the denial was only public and Kiev was seeking to expand its support for the militias. Some of Ukraine’s Western backers may view supporting the groups as problematic because of the fighters’ neo-nazi views and the risk of escalating to direct war with Moscow. 

Last month the Financial Times reported the RVC used American military equipment to attack Russia’s Belgorod region. 

 

About Kyle Anzalone

Kyle Anzalone is news editor of the Libertarian Institute, opinion editor of Antiwar.com and co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Will Porter and Connor Freeman.

https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/kiev-elevating-the-stakes-with-cross-border-attacks-using-neo-nazis/