As Russia’s Ukraine invasion stalls, the Kremlin could call on militant groups to foment violence in the West, experts warn. A former US intelligence official warned of a likely bid by Russia to stir “political violence.” Two Russian groups currently fighting in Ukraine have ties to far-right groups in the US and Western Europe. (…) But experts are increasingly concerned that as Russia’s invasion stalls, the Kremlin could choose to retaliate against the West not just through economic and diplomatic means, but also by inciting violent attacks at the heart of the NATO alliance. The tool it could seek to exploit is a network of neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups in Russia, Western Europe, and the US with which it has cultivated ties for decades. (…) The Kremlin has sought to portray its Ukraine invasion as a bid to “denazify” the country. But analysts say its forces are fighting alongside groups who openly espouse neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideology — exposing the hollowness of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s propaganda. The groups have extensive ties to far-right extremists across the West, as well as deep connections with Russia’s military and intelligence services, experts told Insider. They could offer the Kremlin a potential route for inflicting violence and chaos in the Western nations providing key diplomatic and military support to Ukraine, while maintaining plausible deniability, experts say. I don’t think anything’s beyond the pale for Putin. Colin Clarke One such threat is the Wagner Group, a mercenary force that has previously been deployed as a Kremlin proxy in conflicts in Syria, Libya, and Mali. Its fighters have been linked to a string of atrocities in Ukraine, with German intelligence saying they were involved in the massacre of civilians in Bucha during the Russian occupation of the Kyiv suburb in March. The group makes no secret of its espousal of Nazi ideology, with its leader, Dmitry Utkin, having been photographed with Nazi insignia tattoos, and its fighters decorating their vehicles with neo-Nazi runic symbols, according to a report by the Italian think tank ResPublica. The Rusich, a Wagner affiliate deployed in Ukraine, also openly flaunts its ties with neo-Nazism, using a Slavic version of the Nazi Swastika, the Kolovrat, as its symbol. (…) The Wagner Group and its affiliates do not pose the only threat, with a rival organization having brokered alliances with violent right-wing extremists across the West. Aleksei Milchakov and Yan Petrovsky — the founders of the Wagner-affiliated Rusich group — reportedly met at a training camp for the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), a white supremacist group dedicated to restoring the Russian empire. The RIM has drawn dedicated extremists from across Europe and the US to its paramilitary training camp near Saint Petersburg as it aggressively cultivated international connections, security analysts say. Like the Wagner Group, it is believed to have deployed fighters to Ukraine, with the group’s banner displayed by fighters in east Ukraine in a picture posted in the group’s Telegram channel reviewed by Insider.
via businessinsider: Russia could strike back at the West by calling on its network of white-supremacist groups to commit terror attacks there, analysts warn