Wagner Group connected to white supremacists, Tech against Terrorism investigation finds. Russian mercenaries fighting in Ukraine, including the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group, have been linked to far-right extremism including an organisation designated by the US as terrorist, analysis reveals. Although Vladimir Putin says his “special military operation” is aimed at the “denazification” of Ukraine, an investigation has found links between pro-Russian forces and violent rightwing extremism, including those directly affiliated with Wagner. One post on the messaging app Telegram, dated 15 March, shows the flag of the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), a white-supremacist paramilitary organisation which the US lists as terrorist, allegedly flown by Moscow-backed separatists in Donetsk. The post was shared by a pro-Putin channel. Much of the extremist content, posted on Telegram and the Russian social media platform VKontakte (VK), relates to a far-right unit within the Wagner Group called Rusich with others linked to pro-Kremlin online communities, some bearing the name and logo of Wagner Group.
Adam Hadley, the executive director of Tech Against Terrorism, a London-based initiative supported by the UN counter-terrorism executive directorate, said their analysis indicated that Russian-backed forces in Ukraine, including the Wagner Group, are “almost certainly connected with extreme far-right organisations”. Hadley added: “Given Putin’s absurd demands for the ‘denazification’ of Ukraine, we suggest he should first root out neo-Nazis in his own ranks before pointing the finger at others.” One of the most secretive organisations in Russia, the Wagner Group doesn’t officially exist. However, reports suggest hundreds of its members are fighting in Ukraine with claims shortly after the invasion that its mercenaries were operating in Kyiv with orders from the Kremlin to assassinate the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy (…) Hadley added: “We condemn Russia for weaponising terrorism in this way and subverting international counter-terrorism norms.”
via guardian: Russian mercenaries in Ukraine linked to far-right extremists