Kameradschaft

Russian neo-Nazi paramilitary group Rusich took to Telegram in mid-November to post a photo of one of its fighters posing in front of three bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. It is thought to be the tip of the iceberg in terms of war crimes committed by this group, which is currently deployed on the Ukrainian front. In the photo, the Russian fighter, wearing a ski mask and a bulletproof vest and carrying a Kalashnikov, poses proudly in front of three bodies on the ground. The three dead men are all dressed in the military fatigues – complete with a yellow armband – worn by Ukrainian soldiers, though they have been stripped of their weapons. The photo, which was posted on Telegram on November 15, is captioned: “Take this as an example. That’s how an army of victors takes photos, not victims.” According to pro-Russian blogger ButusovPlus, the photo was taken in the region of Pokrovsk, though it is impossible to independently verify this location.   A few hours later, the photo was followed by a second post, this time one that called on followers to send similar images in order to obtain an unspecified sum of cryptocurrency.  The message goes on to become even more macabre. “We are announcing a competition. The first three people who send a photo of prisoners who have clearly been executed will get a crypto money reward from Rusich.” The post has since been deleted by the administrator of the Telegram channel. (…) These atrocities are the hallmark of Rusich, a group of Russian mercenaries who regularly display neo-Nazi references. They became well-known in Donbas in 2014, then acted alongside the Russian mercenary operation, the Wagner Group. Currently, members of this group are active on the Ukrainian front. While it is difficult to estimate how many of them there are, analysts agree that Rusich had a few dozen fighters in 2022. ‘Their aim is to terrorise their adversary’ Today, Rusich has become a byword for terror, says Candace Rondeaux, a professor at Arizona State University:  “Rusich is one of the pillars of the irregular warfare that the Kremlin has been engaged in since 2014.  Their aim is to terrorise their adversaries by showing off their brutality. Rusich was close to the Wagner universe and that of the Redut group (Editor’s note: a Russian mercenary group with close links to the intelligence services); they intervened in Syria but also in Libya. It is also a paramilitary group that operates with the blessing of the GRU (Editor’s note: the Russian military intelligence service) and recruits within the Russian ultra-nationalist movement and amongst former Russian parachutists (Editor’s note: also called the VDV).  Since it was created in 2014, Rusich has been seen as a force that carries out complex operations, including reconnaissance missions, sabotage or sniping. Some of their forces are operating behind enemy lines in Ukraine.” Neo-Nazi ideology  The members of the unit regularly show off ultra-nationalist and neo-Nazi symbols on Telegram. Case in point: the badge worn by members of the unit, which features an ultra-nationalist symbol called the Kolovrat superimposed on top of the Russian imperial flag (black, yellow and white). Ricardo Parreira, an expert in far-right symbols, says that the Kolovrat has become a sort of banner for neo-Nazi groups in Eastern Europe (…) One of the founders and the current leader of Rusich, Alexey Milchakov, stated publicly in an interview that he considers himself a Nazi and not a patriot or a nationalist.  He also called for the extermination of Ukrainians, “so they can no longer raise their children”. Ukrainian investigative group Molfar reported that Milchakov is believed to have cut off the ears of Ukrainian fighters in 2014 before publishing images of these atrocities on VKontakte.

via france24: Russian neo-Nazi group ‘Rusich’ regularly posts images of war crimes