The neo-Nazi ideology and the recruitment through Telegram and Atomwaffen Division It’s no secret that the social media platform Telegram is home to a huge part of the global radical right. This happens due to the possibilities it offers to the user and the alleged protection of data it offers from government interventions. Much has been said about how the radical right uses the platform to initiate violence, spread propaganda and indoctrinate new members to their beliefs. But what about recruiting people to fight in the real world? One neo-nazi group, the Atomwaffen Division, has been doing just that, according to a Unicorn Riot investigation. Atomwaffen Division (AWD) is a violent neo-Nazi terrorist group created in 2015 in the U.S. and responsible for at least five murders. Although the group consists of few members, it managed to include former and present members of the Armed Forces of the United States of America in its ranks. Members of the group have been arrested for murder, preparation of terror attacks and other crimes. Although the group was originally based in the U.S., they have established branches all over Europe. (…) The majority of AWD’s online presence, and more specifically on Telegram, was limited to ideological propaganda and cohesion, networking as well as glorifying violence and promoting hate speech against political opponents. See our 2020 report on leaked neo-Nazi chats related to Atomwaffen Division AWD in Russia/Ukraine There has been an AWD cell in Russia since 2020 and it has close relations with the paramilitary, radical right group known as the Russian Imperial Movement. Many of the members of AWD have received military training from the latter. Meanwhile in Ukraine, while there were some indications of an AWD affiliated branch in the country, named AWD Galizien. AWD started actively organizing its local group since the beginning of the official Russian invasion in Ukraine. In 2020, the Ukrainian authorities and the secret services of the country managed to arrest neo-Nazi individuals who were related to AWD in Kiev and Odessa. And in October 2020, two U.S. citizens who were members of AWD were expelled from the country for trying to join the Azov Regiment and for the incitement of murders and terrorism. However, a 2020 investigation revealed AWD members were sent to train with neo-nazi militias in Ukraine. (…) Everything started within the Telegram channel entitled ‘Atomwaffen Division.’ In a post, the channel announced that a recruitment period for the AWD Ukraine group began and stated that “everyone can join.” It continued by giving specific instructions to every individual who was interested to send a message in a bot channel, writing “I want to join the team.” While it’s an escalation in tactics, the overt call for participation fits in with the channel’s history of glorifying far-right ideas and actions. The channel is full of neo-Nazi propaganda, including Hitler-era flags, Nazi salutes and pictures of AWD members fighting alongside the Azov Regiment, a unit of Ukraine’s National Guard, in Mariupol. That being said, there has been reported another relationship between Azov and AWD, back in 2016, concerning Americans who were willing to join Azov in Ukraine. It is worth mentioning that until the announcement of the recruitment, this AWD Telegram channel was only used for propaganda reasons. It was the first time it publicly announced a recruitment call.
via univorn riot: Neo-Nazi Group Fighting in Ukraine Seeks Recruits Online