Around 30 members of the group calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) met the media in northern Ukraine on Wednesday. They posed with the corps’ blue and white emblem in front of armored vehicles. Some were masked, but a good number willingly showed their faces. The fighters belong to one of the two groups that say they carried out an attack on Russian territory on Monday. The attack in the Belgorod region is the largest on Russian territory so far since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. – This was a light mobile force that quickly went in, took a few losses and went out again, says associate professor at the Defense Staff School, Tom Røseth. He says they overran a poorly guarded Russian border station and managed to hold the territory for a day and a half before pulling out again. Denis Kaputsin (th), the leader of the group calling itself the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), photographed near the border with Russia on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters Promises new attacks The leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) is Denis Kaputsin. When he met the media on Wednesday, he introduced himself by his nickname “White Rex”. – I think you will see us again on that page. I can’t reveal upcoming things, I can’t even reveal the direction, he told the journalists present. He would not say anything about where an attack might come from. – The border is long. It will be a place where it gets hot, says Kaputsin. Does not fit on their own border – the Russians say they have killed 70 people. It is unlikely and there is no good photographic evidence for it, says lieutenant colonel Joakim Paasikivi. Photo: Thomas Krangnes / Sveriges Radio Lieutenant Colonel Joakim Paasikivi is a teacher of defense strategy at the Swedish Defense Academy. He says that the Russian border guards are not capable of protecting the border against this type of force. – As they cross the border, they create problems for the Russians, he says to Sveriges Radio. Røseth says the border station that was overrun consisted of conscript soldiers, a lieutenant and a contract soldier. He believes that it shows that on Russia’s side it is not a priority to look after the state border between Russia and Ukraine. Limited resources mean that Russia must prioritize the front line in Ukraine. – It is quite strange that they are at war. It shows that they believe that Ukraine adheres to the so-called rules of the game that even if they have attacked Ukraine, Ukraine will not attack Russia, says Røseth. Members of the group calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps pose inside Russia on Monday. Ilya Bogdanov (right) has been fighting in Ukraine since 2014. Aleksej Lyovkin (centre) has previously led a neo-Nazi group in Kyiv. Photo: RUSSIAN VOLUNTEER CORPS / Reuters – Certainly not mother’s best child Paasikivi says that among the fighters who stood up on Wednesday, there was everything from people who want Russia to be free and democratic to right-wing extremists. – Russian volunteer corps has a designation as neo-Nazi and stands for values that are unfortunate, says Røseth. Denis Kaputsin, the leader of the RVC, has been branded a neo-Nazi by the American civil rights organization Anti-Defamation League. They say that he has previously given combat training to German right-wing extremists. Aleksei Lyovkin was one of the others who stood up on Wednesday. According to the Telegraph, he has been convicted of hate crimes in Russia before he fled to Ukraine. There he organized a neo-Nazi group Wotanjugend and conducted weapons training. Aleksej Skachkov was also present at Wednesday’s media meeting. The Telegraph writes that the Ukrainian intelligence service SBU describes him as “the leader of a radical neo-Nazi group”. He was arrested three years ago for selling translated versions of the so-called manifesto to the terrorist who killed 50 people in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019. – It is certainly not mother’s best child. In war, we often see that it is the elements you don’t like that come to the fore and get a role. But they have common goals and are a useful tool for Ukraine to disrupt and complicate the situation for the Russians, says Røseth. This is what we know about the groups that attacked the Belgorod Legion for Freedom for Russia and Russian Volunteer Corps say they were behind the attacks in the Russian county of Belgorod. There is little information about how the groups are financed, how many members they have, and what kind of support they receive from Ukraine. Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC): Made up of Russians who have fought in and for Ukraine – against Russia. Was founded by an extreme Russian right-wing nationalist, Denis Kapustin – also known as Denis Nikitin – in August 2022. Russia has labeled him a terrorist. Claims to be behind armed operations in Russian Bryansk in March and in Belgorod on 22-23 May. Is, according to Ukrainian intelligence, an independent underground group in Russia, with a unit in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. The Foreign Legion rejects that. A video released by the RVC on Monday shows two men claiming to have hijacked a Russian armored personnel carrier. Reuters has identified one of the men as Ilya Bogdanov, a Russian citizen who received Ukrainian citizenship in 2015 after fighting on the Ukrainian side against Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Legion of Freedom for Russia (LSR): Says it was formed in the spring of 2022 because Russians wanted to fight with the Ukrainian military against “Putin’s armed gang.” The political leader is former parliamentarian Ilya Ponomaryev, the only parliamentarian who voted against Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula, and who later moved to Ukraine. Says it cooperates with Ukrainian forces and operates under Ukrainian command. Has taken responsibility for the attack in Belgorod and is also participating in the fighting in eastern Ukraine. A spokesman for Ukrainian intelligence has said that the attacks in Belgorod involve only Russian citizens and that the aim is to establish a “safe zone” to protect Ukrainian civilians. Source: Reuters and AFP (NTB) Believes they have been given permission by Ukraine Although the two groups consist of exiled Russians, both Paasikivi and Røset believe that they have not attacked Russia without some form of permission from Ukraine. Paasikivi says that it is not certain that the Ukrainian army planned this. – It is clear that they at least know about it and have nodded their approval to it, he says. – There have been signals from the Ukrainian intelligence service where someone has said something like “there are a number of unsavory people with whom we are forced to cooperate because there is a war”, continues Paasikivi. Tom Røseth is even clearer when it comes to whether Ukraine is involved. – Of course, this is permitted by the Ukrainian state. They have used Ukrainian territory as a staging area for the operation, he says. Fighters from the group calling itself the Legion of Freedom for Russia (LSR) posed for the media on Wednesday. Photo: SERGEY BOBOK / AFP Believes Ukraine is behind several attacks On Wednesday, the New York Times also reported that American intelligence believes Ukraine was probably behind the drone attack on the Kremlin earlier in May. According to the newspaper, it was probably organized by a Ukrainian special unit or intelligence service. The newspaper writes that it is unclear whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and his government were aware of the attack. Zelenskyy himself has denied that Ukraine had anything to do with the attack. US intelligence believes it sees a loose network of Ukrainian groups and units capable of conducting operations inside Russia. In addition to the drone attack, the Americans believe that Ukrainians were behind other attacks inside Russia. Among them is the assassination of the daughter of the Russian nationalist Aleksandr Dugin and the murder of a pro-Russian blogger in St. Petersburg.
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Leader of Russian exile group promises more attacks against Russia – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
