After Wagner

With the Wagner Group ceasing to exist last year after the death of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, it may seem that the threat from non-state actors on the battlefield in Ukraine has disappeared. However, while the most well-known group might have stopped its activities, Ukraine continues to attract various paramilitary groups, most of which hold far-right views.

One of the most notorious groups that is known for its involvement in Ukraine is Rusich, which has been actively involved in the conflict in Ukraine since 2014 and holds extreme right-wing, neo-Nazi beliefs. One of its leaders, Alexei Milchakov, became infamous not only for publicly and proudly calling himself a Nazi, but also for his penchant for sadistic violence after he made a video of himself killing and eating a puppy. It must be noted, however, that Rusich does not seem to be particularly popular among the Russian far right. Thus, Sergei Korotkih, one of the creators of the Russian National Socialist movement and an ally of Russia’s most infamous neo-Nazi, Maxim Martsinkevich (nicknamed Tesak), was quoted as saying that people like Milchakov are considered “losers” in the movement and see the war in Ukraine as an opportunity to gain traction on social media. This may be true, as the group’s social channels contain very little ideological content and the small amount that is available is mostly dedicated to the thrill of killing Ukrainian soldiers who, it appears, Rusich considers a second-class race.

Another far-right group is the Russian Imperial Movement (or specifically its military wing, the Imperial Legion) and its smaller affiliates, which consider themselves “nationalists”. They believe that Ukraine as a state should not exist and it is simply part of Russia; hence, they see their participation in the war as contributing to the unification of Russian territories, with the final goal of creating new Russian Empire with a monarch ruling it. The group’s social media is full of posts dedicated to explaining its views and justifying its involvement in Ukraine. It should be noted that despite its enthusiastic welcome of the war and active involvement, the group presents itself as an opposition to the Russian government. In its rhetoric, it appears to hope that its involvement will eventually help it achieve its strategic goal of changing the regime in Russia and seizing political power.

In the last year, the so-called Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) has also gained a certain amount of fame as a Russian group fighting on Ukraine’s side. This group was founded in August 2022 by Denis Kapustin (now Nikitin), a Russian national from Germany. It is believed that Kapustin holds neo-Nazi views, and he has even been labelled as a “key figure in European extreme far-right circles” and “one of the most dangerous neo-Nazis in the region”. Another member of the movement, Alexei Levkin, used to be the head of neo-Nazi group Wotanjugend, and called Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik a hero. Several other members also have a history of expressing public support for extreme right-wing groups and terrorists.

Nikitin himself, in an interview with PBS, said: “Islamisation, cultural Marxism, multiculturalism, I think all those – all those things are harmful. European culture is definitely endangered. I believe in things like the Great Replacement”. These and other comments made by Nikitin resonate with far-right ideology, which leaves no doubt as to his and his movement’s political views. It appears, however, from interviews with other members that the degree of acceptance of these views varies – some members say that they hold traditionalist views but do not agree with more extreme far-right ideas, and others have even argued that the image of RVC as being an extreme right group was created and promoted by their adversaries in Russia (the group is designated as a terrorist organisation in Russia). While this might be true, Russian neo-Nazis have expressed support for RVC on their social media (such as the Telegram channel “National Socialist”) and have even called for donations to help wounded RVC fighters receive medical care.

It appears that despite the disappearance of the Wagner Group, Ukraine still remains an attractive target for various non-state actors

In addition to these, there are also two more groups supporting Ukraine – “Freedom of Russia Legion” and “Sibir Batalion” – however, there is not enough credible information to make firm conclusions about their ideological orientations.

In any case, it appears that despite the disappearance of the Wagner Group, Ukraine still remains an attractive target for various non-state actors, many of which hold extreme right-wing beliefs and are active on social media reporting about their activities and recruiting new members, as well as committing acts of violence. Their presence in the region is a reason for concern, as not only does it further aggravate the situation on the battlefield, but it also poses a security threat for Europe as these groups may attempt (as some already have) to move their activities beyond the borders of Ukraine.

Anna Kruglova is a lecturer in Terrorism Studies at the University of Salford. Her research focuses on radicalisation, propaganda and disinformation.