Wagner’s Neo-Nazi Rusich Attack Unit Hints at Returning to Ukraine’s Secret Operations

One of the scariest and radical Russian paramilitary groups may have taken to social media and revealed plans to operate covertly back in Ukraine, which was accused of war crimes during a previous invasion.

Special Forces Rusicha unit of Russian mercenaries best known for their neo-Nazi reputation; known for their brutality when first deployed to the Donbas region, eastern Ukraine during the climactic fighting between separatist forces. Russia and the Ukrainian army in the summer of 2014.

Now, it seems Rusich has his eye on the strategically important city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine. That could mean Wagner’s group—Which Rusich counts among the worldwide network of off-campus combat cadres — will be well positioned for the opening match in what some fear might be a prelude for an all-out war between Russia and Ukraine.

The Pentagon says it has information suggesting Russia plans to deploy a secret task force inside Ukraine to conduct false flag operations as a pretext for an invasion. These public statements have put Washington, Kyiv and the rest of the world at risk of increased tension over 100,000 Russians. The army is now large near Ukraine’s border with Russia and Belarus.

The Wagner Group – which the US believes is run by one of President Vladimir Putin’s closest friends, Yevgeny Prigozhin – is not officially recognized as part of the Russian military apparatus, and the Kremlin says it oblivious to his activities around the world. In many cases, semi-private military units are sent to conflict zones where Putin wants to maintain legitimate denial.

Rusich left Ukraine in the summer of 2015 a few months after UK., Canadaand European Union sanctioned one of the group’s commanders, Alexey Milchakovafter reports of his unit’s involvement in war crimes allegations in Donbas.

Milchakov and Rusich’s top military trainer, Yan Petrovsky, has since been discovered in Syriaaccording to numerous reports of their recent mining activities — which are said to include tortured grizzly and dismembered a Syrian prisoner.

Complaints about the possibility that Rusich could return to the frontline first surfaced on the team’s Instagram account late last year. On September 27, the group said that they were training for military exercises in a post that depicted a stylized photo of members on a Russian armored vehicle.

A month later, on October 28, comment on Rusich’s Instagram account appears to suggest that the mercenaries have engineered a return to Kharkiv. One user asked if Rusich was planning another deployment to “DNR/LNR,” which stands for the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic, two Donbas districts controlled by Russian separatists.

The answer from Rusich gets straight to the point and is clearly in the affirmative: “@anton_lvr хнр, кнп, и т.д.” “хнр“Is an abbreviation for “Kharkiv People’s Republic,” which pro-Russian separatists briefly proclaimed in 2014 before Ukrainian forces reasserted control of the city in northeastern Ukraine. The message seems to have suggested that they expect to return to Ukraine.

With roots in the radical and neo-Nazi context of St.Petersburg, the group carried out reconnaissance and sabotage operations behind enemy lines in Ukraine and play played an important role in several important battles during the early days of the Donbas conflict. By Milchakov’s own account on his Vkontakte social media Pagehe and Petrovsky formed the group in the summer of 2014 after graduating from the “Partizan” paramilitary training program run by the Imperial Russian Army Corps, a combat unit based in St.Petersburg, and The United States is punished Movement of the Russian Empire.

Rusich is known for his exceptional brutality. In September 2014, Rusich attacked a group of Ukrainian volunteer fighters near the Metallist town of Donbas, killing dozens, according to Ukrainian news reports. Later, local sources said the Rusich . members mutilation and Burn of the dead, their images circulated on the web and became part of the group’s mythology. During their 2014-2015 deployment, Milchakov, Petrovsky and other members of Rusich were considered notorious, Post pictures of atrocities (warning: graphic) and selfie with dead body, according to Ukrainian media. Ukrainian human rights groups also accused team torturing prisoners. Rusich’s overwhelming social media footprint served as useful propaganda, inflating members as fearsome fighters and garnering their relatively small numbers in Ukraine during 2014-15. .

Rusich withdrew from Ukraine in 2015, members only Reappear in Syria, protecting strategically important oil and gas infrastructure belonging to state-backed Russian companies, such as New America and Novaya Gazeta first report in 2019. Posts to the group’s Instagram account show members in the Palmyra region of central Syria, one of them posing in front of ancient ruins with a Nazi salute.

Further research carried out by New America shows that Rusich recently trained at a Russian government facility near St.Petersburg — along with other far-right organizations. This position suggests that the paramilitary group has at least the tacit backing of the Kremlin, even if it remains unknown whether the paramilitary unit is under direct state control.

Following an October 2021 Instagram comment in which Rusich alluded to a return to Kharkiv, the group’s account went silent, which is notable for an organization that often makes headlines through social media. .

Then, on January 15, 2022, the day after the White House accused Russia of planning a false flag operation in Ukraine as a pretext for invasion, Rusich’s account lit up. Along with a picture of the rookies conducting winter training at what seems to be same shooting range St.

You alone will kill

ferocious snake,

on Gnitahade he

deceitful, insatiable.

Classic Rusich quote: ominous, ambiguous, with tones of glory and violence. As Russia readies itself for conflict on the Ukrainian border, it appears that a contingent of Russian militiamen is preparing for the next chapter of the war in which they played no small part at the outset.