Neo-Nazi Russian Attack Unit Hints Its Going Back Into Ukraine Undercover

One of the most notorious battalions of the secretive and deadly Wagner Group appeared to suggest it was prepping to return to Ukraine, raising the prospect of a Russian assault.

Ben Dalton

One of the most feared and radical Russian paramilitary groups may have slipped up on social media and revealed its plans to return undercover to Ukraine, where it was accused of committing war crimes during a previous incursion.

Task Force Rusich, a Russian mercenary unit which glories in its neo-Nazi reputation, became known for its brutality when it was first deployed to the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine during peak fighting between Russian separatist forces and the Ukrainian military in the summer of 2014.

Now it seems Rusich has set its sights on the strategically important north- eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. That could mean the Wagner Groupwhich counts Rusich among its network of off-the-books fighting cadres posted all over the worldwill be well-positioned for the opening salvo in what some fear may be the prelude to an all-out war between Russia and Ukraine.

The Pentagon says it has intel suggesting Russia plans to position a group of covert operatives inside Ukraine to conduct false-flag operations as a pretext for invasion. These public claims have rightly set Washington, Kyiv, and the rest of the world on edge with tensions mounting over the 100,000-plus Russian troops now massing near Ukraines borders with Russia and Belarus.

The Wagner Groupwhich the U.S. believes is run by one of President Vladimir Putins closest oligarch friends, Yevgeny Prigozhinis not officially acknowledged as part of the Russian military apparatus, and the Kremlin says it doesnt know anything about its operations around the world. In many cases, the quasi-private military units are sent to conflict zones where Putin wants to maintain plausible deniability.

Rusich left Ukraine in the summer of 2015 a few months after the U.K., Canada, and the European Union sanctioned one of the groups commanders, Alexey Milchakov, after reports of his units involvement in alleged war crimes in Donbas.

Milchakov and Rusichs lead military trainer, Yan Petrovsky, have since been spotted in Syria, according to multiple reports about their recent exploits which allegedly include the grizzly torture and dismemberment of a Syrian prisoner.

The reply from Rusich was straight to the point and apparently in the affirmative: @anton_lvr , , .. is an abbreviation for the Kharkiv Peoples Republic, which pro-Russian separatists briefly proclaimed in 2014 before Ukrainian forces reasserted control over the city in north-eastern Ukraine. The message seems to have suggested they expect to return to Ukraine.

With roots in St. Petersburgs ultranationalist and neo-Nazi scene, the group carried out reconnaissance and sabotage operations behind enemy lines in Ukraine and played a significant role in several key battles during the early part of the Donbas conflict. By Milchakovs own account on his Vkontakte social media page, he and Petrovsky formed the group in the summer of 2014 after graduating from the Partizan paramilitary training program run by the Russian Imperial Legion, the fighting arm of the St. Petersburg-based and U.S. sanctioned Russian Imperial Movement.

Further research carried out by New America shows that more recently Rusich has been training at a Russian government facility near St. Petersburgalong with other far-right organizations. The location suggests that the paramilitary group has at the very least tacit Kremlin backing, even if it remains unknown whether the paramilitary unit is under direct state control.

Then, on Jan. 15, 2022, the day after the White House accused Russia of planning a false-flag operation in Ukraine as a pretext for invasion, Rusichs account lit up. Along with photos of recruits conducting winter training at what appears to be the same St. Petersburg firing range, Rusich posted a quote from the Edda, a cycle of ancient Norse poems that is popular among the European far right:

Alone you will kill

the ferocious snake,

on Gnitahade he

lies, insatiable.

The quote is classic Rusich: ominous, vague, with undertones of glory and violence. As Russia readies for conflict on the Ukrainian border, it appears that one Russian militia contingent is preparing for the next chapter of a war it played no small part in starting.

Read more on: thedailybeast, ukraine