Russian Volunteer Corps

Not to be confused with Russian volunteer battalions.

Russian Volunteer Corps
Русский добровольческий корпус
LeadersDenis "White Rex" Kapustin
Dates of operation22 August 2022 – present
Allegiance Ukraine
Ideology
Political positionRight-wing[4] to far-right[8]
Notable attacks2023 Bryansk Oblast raid
Allies Ukraine

Karelian National Movement

Opponents Russia
Battles and wars
Designated as a terrorist group byRussia[9]
Flag
Websiterusvolcorps.com

The Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC; Russian: Русский добровольческий корпус, РДК, romanized: Russkiy dobrovolcheskiy korpus, RDK) is a far-right[10][11][12] paramilitary force composed of Russian citizens, based in Ukraine. It was formed in August 2022 after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine to fight against the government of Vladimir Putin.[5][13][14] The group reportedly consists of Russian emigrants who are primarily united by their opposition to Putin.[5] The RVC is subordinated to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine and was initially part of the International Legion of Ukraine.[15][16][17]

Assessments of the ideology of this group vary from white nationalist[18] to neo-Nazi.[19][20][21] The RVC stated that they maintain right-wing conservative views and reject extremist labels.[22][23] Their founder and leader is Denis Kapustin, a neo-Nazi who in 2019 was banned from the Schengen Area.[24]

The group claimed responsibility for a March 2023 raid into the Bryansk Oblast of Russia. Since May 2023, it has been launching larger cross-border raids into the Belgorod Oblast of Russia, alongside the Freedom of Russia Legion.

Origin and aims

The Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) was founded in August 2022[25] The founder and leader of the group was Denis Nikitin, who has been described as a neo-Nazi.[26][27][28] According to the Ukrainian news agency Glavcom, the RVC was formed by Russian volunteers who had started fighting for Ukraine in the Azov Regiment and other units in 2014.[29] According to Polish news agency Vot Tak, unlike the Freedom of Russia Legion, the leadership of the RVC does not rely on Russian POWs-turned-defectors, but on Russian right-wing emigrants living in Ukraine.[30]

The RVC says it is made up of ethnic Russians fighting to defend Ukraine against Russia's invasion and to overthrow the government of Vladimir Putin.[5] It asserts Russia's government should abandon its imperial ambitions and instead focus on improving the well-being of ethnic Russians. The RVC say they believe in self-determination for Russia's various ethnic minorities and "want to see a smaller, ethnic Russian state".[6][31]

RVC uses the symbols of the anti-Bolshevik Russian Liberation Army, largely composed of Soviet prisoners of war in German captivity who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II, but also helped Czech partisans in the Prague uprising against the German occupation.[6][30][32]

Ideology

According to official RVC statement, their flag is ideological fusion of Victor Larionov's organizations - a person "from whose ideas, principles and beliefs we build off of, drawing parallels of historical and political continuity".[19] Victor Larionov was a member of the anti-communist White movement during the Russian Civil War who, while being exiled in 1930s created a "White Idea" - an organization that in December 1937 would join Russian Fascist party.[33] After Socialist coalition came to power in France in 1938, Larionov, among others was deported to Germany, where he became an employee of Novoe Slovo, a pro-Nazi newspaper published by Russian émigrés in Berlin between 1933 and 1944. During the "Great Patriotic War" he worked for Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories and was a member of the Russian Liberation Army.[33]

In May 2023 RVC posted their official manifesto called "Homo ethnicus". In this manifesto RVC rejects both Liberalism and Communism while presenting a third way - an "Ethnic worldview" encompassing unity by blood and by nation.[19][34][20] Yulia Latynina compared the organization's manifesto to Mein Kampf.[35] Denis Kapustin described himself as a "patriot", a "traditionalist", a "right-winger", but rejected the label "neo-Nazi", saying "you’ll never find me waving a flag with a swastika, you’ll never find me raising my hand in a Hitler salute. So why would you call me that?".[36] However, Kapustin's clothing brand features the Black Sun[6] and "88" symbols favoured by Nazis and neo-Nazis,[37] as well as phrases such as "SS for Sweet 'n' sexy".[24]

One of the members told DW that their goal is a "true nation-state of Russians in the original Russian territories — taking into account the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Belarus, as well as neighboring countries. We want to establish a state for Russians that lives in peace with all the nations that surround it."[1]

Founder Denis Kapustin has said that the RVC has ideological lectures in addition to physical and military training, as he believes that "ideology is something that fortifies a unit".[38]

German authorities have cautioned that the RVC fighting for Ukraine serves as a strategic advantage for Russian propagandists, enabling them to portray the Russian invasion in Ukraine as a purported effort to "de-Nazify" the nation.[37] "De-Nazification" is a common talking point in Russian disinformation to justify the invasion of Ukraine.[39]

Organization

The group gathers its forces through recruiting anti-Putin activists with civilian backgrounds and then coordinates with various political factions that move individuals across borders. Those associated with the RVC come from differing ideological backgrounds. They frequently share nothing other than a mutual opposition to the invasion of Ukraine coupled with the aim of ending the current Russian government.[6]

According to Kapustin, as of August 2022, the RDK "interacted" with the Ukrainian Armed Forces but was not recognized as a unit of the Ukrainian army. He stated: "We had to go all the way to the President of Ukraine to make our case and ask for permission to officially fight. The president gave the green light, and in one day, everything began to move."[40]

Reuters has recounted assertions that "RVC fighters [have] received regular salaries from the Ukrainian defence ministry" as well as that the overall "unit [has] numbered up to 200 fighters". However, the news agency has cautioned that these statements have not been independently verified.[6]

The RVC maintains a "Free Cossack Squad" consisting of Cossack volunteers primarily from the Kuban region of southern Russia with the unit reportedly taking part in the fighting in Avdiivka and Svatove.[41]

Before beginning a cooperation with the Civic Council, the unit only accepted Russians who were already abroad. With the cooperation the Civic Center functions as a ″kind of recruitment center″ and according to Anastasia Sergeyeva, the public face of the Civic Council, men were also then accepted directly from Russia. In order to join, volunteers fill out an online questionnaire or write to an encrypted mailbox.[42]

The Karelian Group, a battalion made up of separatists from Northwestern Russia of Finno-Ugric origin, became a part of the RVC in late 2023.[43]

  • Insignia of the RVC's Cossack Unit
  • Insignia of the Karelian Group

Affiliations

RVC is a part of International Legion of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine and is subordinate to Main Directorate of Intelligence.[17][16]

In October 2022, the RVC published its manifesto, identifying itself as "part of Ukraine's Armed Forces", although Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment.[44][24] In March 2023, Ukraine denied involvement with the RVC and other armed groups that launched an assault into Russia from Ukraine.[5] Ilya Ponomarev, political representative of the Freedom of Russia Legion, claimed the RVC has contacts with the Ukrainian military but operates in a "gray area".[45]

The Russian Volunteer Corp is part of the Civic Council, a Russian emigrant association that was founded in Warsaw.[42]

According to Ilya Ponomarev, the RVC took part in a press conference on 31 August 2022 with the Freedom of Russia Legion and the National Republican Army when they signed a joint declaration. He claimed that the RVC also agreed to join the agreement.[46][47]

On 24 August 2024, the RVC was one of many attendees of the pan-European nationalist Nation Europa conference held in Lviv, Ukraine.[48]

Structure

  • Free-Cossack Detachment
  • Reconnaissance Group "Tourist"
  • Artillery Unit
  • Drone Unit
  • Mortar Battery
  • Karelian Group

Members

Members of the group include former FSB agent Ilya Bogdanov and founder of Wotan Jugend and M8L8TH frontman Alexey Levkin.[49][50]

Claimed attacks

Bryansk Oblast raid

Main article: 2023 Bryansk Oblast raid

On 2 March 2023, the Russian authorities claimed that an armed Ukrainian group crossed the border and carried out a "terrorist attack" in the villages of Lyubechane and Sushany, in Bryansk Oblast. Russia said the attackers fired on a car, killing two civilians, before the Federal Security Service forced them back into Ukraine.[51] On 9 March, Russia launched a barrage of missile strikes at Ukrainian civilian infrastructure in what it called "retaliation" for the attack.[52] The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility for the alleged cross-border raid, and posted videos of armed men in Lyubechane with their insignia, urging Russians to "rise up and fight" against the government.[44]

Ukrainian officials denied involvement, saying it was either a Russian false flag attack or a case of Russians rebelling against their government.[13]

On 6 April 2023, the Russian Volunteer Corps again claimed to have crossed the border into Bryansk Oblast, entering the village of Sluchovsk.[53] While Russian authorities claimed that an attempted incursion was prevented, the Russian Volunteer Corps released video showing them inside the village. During the incursion, combat operations were allegedly carried out.[54]

Belgorod Oblast raids

Main article: 2023 Belgorod Oblast incursions

On 22 May 2023, the RVC and the Freedom of Russia Legion launched a larger raid into Russia, this time in Grayvoronsky District, Belgorod Oblast; videos that circulated online showed armed men who said they belonged to the RVC saying they had crossed the border to fight "the bloody Putinite and Kremlin regime".[55] The governor of Belgorod Oblast said that a Ukrainian "sabotage group" had entered the region and that a "counterterrorism regime" was introduced.[56] The paramilitaries reportedly captured several border villages. On 24 May, the RVC held a press conference on the Ukrainian side of the border. Denis 'White Rex' said they were satisfied with the raid, saying they had seized weapons, an armoured personnel carrier, and taken prisoners before leaving Russian territory after 24 hours. He said that two RVC fighters were wounded and that Ukraine provided support only with medical supplies, fuel and food. Separately, the Freedom of Russia Legion said two of its fighters had been killed and 10 wounded.[57]

See also

References

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