Given how the Kremlin is so determined to portray Ukraine as a hotbed of Nazis, it is tragically ironic not only that its own forces seem determined to recreate some of the horrors of the German invasion in the second world war, but also that it is so willing to use its own fascists in pursuit of its war. The latest unit to hit the news is Rusich, a unit affiliated to the infamous mercenaries of Wagner Group. Its name simply means a member of the old Rus’ people, and speaks to its inchoate ideology, a mix of traditional Slavic (and Viking) paganism, Nazism, and extreme Russian nationalism. Originally drawn largely from neo-Nazis out of the St Petersburg nationalist underground scene, in 2014 Rusich emerged as one of the ‘volunteer battalions’ in rebel-held parts of Ukraine’s Donbas region. Moscow neither created nor controlled Rusich, but nor did it do anything to prevent its emergence: the first months of the Donbas war were essentially ones in which the Russian government was happy to watch and see what happened. (…) They seemed to revel in their impunity and their reputation for violence, mutilating and burning the bodies of the dead and even putting videos of their atrocities online. One of their commanders even boasted of cutting the ears off the dead. Rusich became the focus of a small, disturbed but genuinely fervent cult, presenting themselves as modern-day Vikings (part of the roots of the Rus’ state being, after all, from early medieval Nordic raiders and traders who chose to carve out principalities in the Slavic lands). Never a large group, they had a disproportionate reputation for ferocity as much as firepower. As they became more tightly controlled by the state, albeit at arm’s length through Wagner, they cropped up in Syria. And as the Kremlin desperately looks for more soldiers to deploy to Ukraine, it looks as if they are back here, too. (…) What can one read into Moscow’s increasing dependence on units known to have poor discipline or an active delight in committing war crimes, from the Wagner Group’s mercenaries, to the Chechen National Guardsmen some have accused of playing a key role in the Bucha massacre, and to neo-Nazi groups such as Rusich? (It is worth noting that there are other, similar groups.) It may simply be that Moscow cannot be picky as it needs all the fighting men it can get. But it is more likely that it also sees some advantage in trying to terrorise the Ukrainians, hoping that this will undermine their will to resist.
via spectator: The terrifying neo-Nazi mercenaries being deployed in Ukraine
siehe auch: Sie schneiden Toten die Ohren ab! #Putin schickt Neonazi-Söldner in Ukraine – #terror #kriegsverbrechen #putinswar #rusish. Nach zahlreichen Rückschlägen schickt Wladimir Putin jetzt angeblich eine besonders grausame Neonazi-Söldnergruppe in den Ukraine-Krieg. Deren Anführer soll die Ohren seiner getöteten Gegner abtrennen; Russian neo-Nazi mercenaries who collect enemies’ ears ‘to be deployed in Ukraine’. Militia group Rusich was founded by sadistic neo-Nazi paratrooper Aleksei Milchakov, and has sent out propaganda encouraging mercenaries to “spill litres of blood from vile Russophobes”. A band of Russian neo-Nazi mercenaries who sadistically collect enemies’ ears are set to be deployed in Ukraine, it has been claimed. The militia group, called Rusich, has been spotted on the Russian-Ukrainian border near to where Vladimir Putin’s forces are expected to launch their next offensive. The unit is linked to private military company, the Wagner Group, which is backed by the Kremlin and is said to currently have 1,000 soldiers operating in eastern Ukraine. Rusich was founded nearly a decade ago in St Petersburg by Red Army paratrooper Aleksei Milchakov, 30, and Yan Petrovsky, 33 – after the pair met at a white supremacist event. It quickly gained notoriety in 2014 during fighting between Moscow-backed separatists and Ukrainian military.
siehe dazu auch: Neonacizmas Rusijos samdinių tarpe. Tyrimą specialiai „Res Publica“ – Pilietinio atsparumo centrui, atliko Lukas Andriukaitis. Lukas Andriukaitis yra atvirųjų šaltinių tyrėjas ir mokytojas, daugiausia dėmesio skiriantis Kremliaus dezinformacijai ir dalyvavimui kariniuose konfliktuose visame pasaulyje. Pastaruosius kelerius metus jo dėmesys nukreiptas į Rusijos karinį dalyvavimą Ukrainoje, Sirijoje, Libijoje ir Venesueloje.