Russian mercenaries in Ukraine linked to far-right extremists

Russian mercenaries fighting in Ukraine, including the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group, have been linked to far-right extremism including an organisation designated by the US as terrorist, analysis reveals.

One post on the messaging app Telegram, dated 15 March, shows the flag of the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), a white-supremacist paramilitary organisation which the US lists as terrorist, allegedly flown by Moscow-backed separatists in Donetsk. The post was shared by a pro-Putin channel.

Much of the extremist content, posted on Telegram and the Russian social media platform VKontakte (VK), relates to a far-right unit within the Wagner Group called Rusich with others linked to pro-Kremlin online communities, some bearing the name and logo of Wagner Group.

It is also understood that efforts are being made by private messaging groups in Russia to recruit a new brigade of mercenaries to fight in Ukraine. Recently, the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, announced that 16,000 fighters from the Middle East had volunteered to fight with the Russian army.

Another recent VK posting lists Rusich as part of a coalition of separatist groups and militias including the extreme far-right group, Russian National Unity.

One image shared on VK by a Rusich-affiliated account shows fighters, seemingly in Ukraine although it has proved impossible to verify, holding a Valknut flag, a symbol also commonly appropriated by white supremacists.

The Tech Against Terrorism analysis found a prominent Wagner Group-affiliated Telegram channel sharing an image in May 2021 of the Kolovrat allegedly daubed on a cliff in Palmyra, Syria.