A neo-Nazi band with lyrics about “white power” and “Aryan destiny” shot a music video at a Russian army base, featuring masked soldiers from a unit of soldiers drawn from the far-right hooligan scene. The incident underlines overt right-wing extremist sentiment within sections of the Russian military, further exposing the hypocrisy of the Kremlin’s propaganda claims about “de-Nazifying” Ukraine. It’s also shone a spotlight on the 106th Airborne Reconnaissance Detachment “Moscow,” a Russian army unit based in the city of Tula, south of Moscow, which is distinctive for recruiting members specifically from the football hooligan and ultranationalist movements – themselves hotbeds of radical right-wing ideology. The band, Russkiy Styag, which translates as Russian Banner, released the video for its track “We” to its social media channels last month, with a statement that it was “filmed with the support of the commanders and fighters of the ‘Moscow’ [unit] of the 106th Airborne Division.” The video features Russkiy Styag’s lead singer performing in what appears to be the “Moscow” unit’s base in Tula, flanked by masked soldiers and with a poster featuring a neo-Nazi black sun symbol displayed prominently in the background (...) Rumyantsev also said he saw no problem with himself publicly wearing neo-Nazi band apparel on social media. Alongside the pictures of Rumyantsev wearing a Skrewdriver T-shirt, VICE News found he had also shared posts calling for the release of Robert Rundo, an American neo-Nazi recently arrested in Romania while on the run from US authorities, or featuring the “sonnenrad,” a common neo-Nazi symbol.
