A neo-Nazi unit of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) led by Denis Kapustin has claimed responsibility for an attack on villages in the Bryansk Region. This follows a video posted on the RDK channel. The recording shows Kapustin in white camouflage standing at the entrance to the Lyubechanskiy paramedic and midwife station.
On 2 March, Russian media reported that Ukrainian units crossed the border and attacked the village of Sushany, Klimovsky district, Bryansk Region. Later, an attack on the village of Lyubechane, which is half an hour away, was reported. According to initial reports, local residents were taken hostage, at least two children were wounded and one person was killed. Information about the hostages was later denied.
The RDK is a militant organization of Russian neo-Nazis fighting on the side of Ukraine. The Russian Volunteer Corps was established in August 2022 by Russian neo-Nazi Denis “WhiteRex” Kapustin. The number of the unit is unknown. According to Alexey Levkin, leader of the neo-Nazi organization WotanJugend, who has also defected to the Ukrainian side, more than 500 Russians serve in the ranks of the AFU, of whom 50 are far-right.
The RDK uses as its symbol the “Spike” of collaborator Viktor Larionov, as well as the flag of General Vlasov’s Russian Liberation Army, which is common to all neo-Nazis from Russia. The RDC chose the White Movement as its ideological predecessor. Russian neo-Nazis from the RDK have chosen to side with Ukraine because they consider Putin’s regime to be “Bolshevist”. This is also typical rhetoric for the White emigrants. The RDK views Russia as an anti-Russian state and the Russian army as an “Asian horde” that must be destroyed in order to create a national state of Russians in Russia.
Kapustin came to Ukraine in 2017 at the invitation of another prominent Russian neo-Nazi, Sergei “Botsman” Korotkikh, who was at the origin of Azov and received a Ukrainian passport from President Petro Poroshenko. Initially, the RDK fighters fought as part of various units of Ukraine’s territorial defense. But they were constantly stopped at checkpoints because of Russian passports. Kapustin then set up the RDK on the model of other national formations in Ukraine. On 31 August 2022, Ukrainian media reported that the RDK, the Freedom legion, and the National Republican Army, affiliated with Russian politician Ilya Ponomariov, who had defected to Ukraine, had signed a common declaration on armed struggle. However, the RDK later denied this information.
According to unconfirmed reports, the RDK is working with Ukraine’s GUR. The RDK claims to be involved in sabotage, night operations to force the Dnieper River, as well as training in the use of M142 HIMARS. Known losses of the RDK: Vasiliy “Rubin” Volgin was killed on 8 September and an “Altai” fighter was killed in December. On 25 December 2022, the Belarusian Volunteer Corps was established along the lines of the RDK. It consisted of far-right Dynamo fans: Igor “Yankey” Yankov, Andrey “Immortal” Tratsevsky and Rodion “Gena” Batulin.
