Russian troops in Ukraine, February 2022. Photo: kommersant.ru
Even though the Kremlin regularly claims that it is fighting Nazism in Ukraine, a claim that is without foundation, the Kremlin is now using real neo-Nazis to prosecute that war, undermining still further Russian justifications for the conflict, Der Spiegel says, citing German intelligence findings.
Related: Putin isn’t ‘copying the Nazis’ as some in the West say; he is a Nazi, Skobov says
According to the German news weekly, the Federal Intelligence Service (the BND) has concluded in a confidential document that numerous Russian right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis are among those fighting alongside Russia’s regular forces in Ukraine.
The BND highlights the activities of two major groups, the Imperial Legion and Rusich, but adds that there are other extremist groups represented as well. Both of the larger groups were involved in the first wave of Putin’s war against Ukraine in 2014-2015 and have now returned to continue their fight.
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Tags: Neo-Nazis, Putinism, Putinist fascism, Ruscism, Russian fascism, Russo-Ukrainian War (2014-present)
