The Base, a far-right group with suspected links to Russia, said killing of Ivan Voronych was ‘only the beginning’ The Ukrainian wing of an internationally proscribed far-right terrorist organization with suspected links to Russia is claiming involvement in the brazen assassination of an intelligence officer in Kyiv. Late last week, a masked assailant shot and killed Col Ivan Voronych of the Ukraine security service (SBU) as he walked through a Kyiv parking lot in broad daylight. Shocking footage of the assassination circulated in Ukrainian media and caused a stir among residents in the capital. For months, the Base, born in the US and with a web of cells all over the world, has been offering money to supporters or willing participants for targeted assassinations and attacks on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine, coinciding with allegations that its American founder, Rinaldo Nazzaro, was a Kremlin spy. Ukrainian authorities have also been warning in recent weeks of similar Russian intelligence operations covertly paying unknowing citizens to carry out sabotage inside their country. “The shooting of the SBU colonel is not the end, but only the beginning,” said a statement posted on a Telegram channel that appears to be linked to the the Base’s supposed Ukrainian cell. “We will continue our struggle until justice prevails.” The same post, translated from Ukrainian, added that the group’s members were “proud of our associates” who carried out the killing and said they didn’t care if naysayers thought of them as “terrorists and extremists”. In another message to subscribers, the account also threatens other Ukrainian public figures and promises: “The hunt continues!” Sources in the counter-terrorism field reviewed the posts and said they appeared credible and represented an escalation from the Base, which is now either endorsing treasonous murders inside of Ukraine, actively commissioning them, or both.
via guardian: Ukraine wing of US-founded terrorist group says it was involved in killing of intelligence officer in Kyiv
siehe auch: Neo-Nazi group with suspected Russian ties claims responsibility for assassination of Ukrainian intelligence officer — The Guardian A Ukrainian cell of the neo-Nazi group “The Base” has claimed responsibility for the July 10 assassination of Colonel Ivan Voronych, a senior official in Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency (SBU), according to The Guardian. “The shooting of the SBU colonel is not the end, but only the beginning. We will continue our struggle until justice prevails,” read a statement published on a Telegram channel believed to be linked to the cell. The message, published in Ukrainian, also stated that members of the group are “proud of our associates” who carried out the killing, and that they don’t care if critics denounce them as “terrorists and extremists.” In another message, the group wrote: “The hunt continues!” The Guardian’s counter-terrorism sources analyzed these messages and concluded that they appear credible, representing an escalation in violence. Steven Rai, an analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue who monitors The Base’s online activity, reported that the group has been active in Ukraine since March. During this time, according to Rai, The Base has carried out at least 10 arson attacks targeting infrastructure and buildings across Ukraine. “They have repeatedly threatened a variety of terrorist actions, including acts of sabotage and the assassination of Ukrainian government officials,” Rai said. While The Base’s role in Voronych’s assassination is still unverified, “this action is very much in line with what they have been threatening to do for months and shows the severity of the threat they pose,” Rai added. The founder and leader of The Base, Rinaldo Nazzaro, declined to comment on the Ukrainian cell’s activities, telling The Guardian: “I have no personal involvement in this incident and don’t know who is responsible for it.” The newspaper notes that The Base has spent months on Telegram offering cash for “volunteer operatives and recruits” to attack infrastructure and politicians in Ukraine, coinciding with allegations that Nazzaro, a “semi-defected American” who now lives in St. Petersburg, is a Kremlin spy; Ukraine wing of Russia-linked neo-Nazi group claims involvement in killing of security service colonel The Ukrainian wing of far-right terrorist organisation The Base, which is suspected of having ties to Russia, has claimed involvement in the recent killing of a top-ranking intelligence colonel in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, The Guardian reported on Wednesday. Last Thursday, Colonel Ivan Voronych was fatally shot five times in Kyiv by an unidentified gunman who fled the scene of the killing in an SUV. On Sunday, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) chief Vasyl Malyuk announced that two Russian FSB agents suspected of assassinating Voronych had been killed in a police raid on their place of residence in Kyiv. The Base, founded in 2018 by Rinaldo Nazzaro, a former Pentagon contractor suspected of engaging in espionage at the behest of the Kremlin, is a neo-Nazi terrorist group previously implicated in “an assassination plot, mass shootings, and other actions in Europe”, according to The Guardian. For months, the newspaper reports, The Base has been offering to pay members or voluntary collaborators to conduct “targeted assassinations” or attacks on Ukraine’s “critical infrastructure”, in a similar fashion to the sabotage operations carried out in Europe by Russia’s intelligence services. In two Telegram posts published last week, White Phoenix, the alleged Ukraine-based arm of The Base, claimed that its “activists” had carried out a “carefully planned” attack on Voronych as a “warning to the regime” of Volodymyr Zelensky; Geheimdienst-Oberst erschossen Anschlag in Kiew führt zu Gruppe aus den USA. Der Anschlag auf einen ukrainischen Geheimdienst-Offizier war offenbar das Werk von Neonazis. Auf Telegram gab es entsprechende Bekenner-Nachrichten. Eine Neonazi-Organisation mit Wurzeln in den USA ist offenbar für den tödlichen Anschlag auf einen ukrainischen Geheimdienstmitarbeiter verantwortlich. In Telegram-Kanälen haben sich mutmaßliche Mitglieder der Gruppe “The Base” zu dem Attentat bekannt, berichtet der britische “The Guardian”. Vergangene Woche war der ukrainische Oberst, Mitglied des Geheimdienstes SBU, auf einem Parkplatz in der Hauptstadt erschossen worden. Überwachungskameras hatten den Anschlag aufgezeichnet. Die Gruppe, die von dem US-Amerikaner Rinaldo Nazzaro im Juli 2018 gegründet wurde, operiert weltweit und hat einen ukrainischen Ableger. “Die Erschießung des SBU-Obersts ist nicht das Ende, sondern erst der Anfang”, heißt es in einem Beitrag auf Telegram. “Wir werden unseren Kampf fortsetzen, bis die Gerechtigkeit siegt.” Die Jagd würde weitergehen, schrieben Anhänger in einem anderen Beitrag. Gründer Nazzaro dementierte eine direkte Verbindung zu dem Anschlag in Kiew. “Ich bin nicht persönlich in diesen Vorfall eingebunden und ich weiß nicht, wer verantwortlich ist”, schrieb er auf Telegram. Die Gruppe hat aber, so der “Guardian”, seit Monaten finanzielle Unterstützung für Anschläge in der Ukraine angeboten.