A newly formed Russian neo-Nazi group posts videos of attacks on migrants and recruits new members to "help the Rus" to fight non-Russians, commit acts of vandalism and arson, and intimidate Jews.
YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO THE MEMRI DOMESTIC TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR (DTTM) TO READ THE FULL REPORT. GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA CAN REQUEST A COPY BY WRITING TO DTTMSUBS@MEMRI.ORG WITH THE REPORT TITLE IN THE SUBJECT LINE. PLEASE INCLUDE FULL ORGANIZATIONAL DETAILS AND AN OFFICIAL EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR REQUEST. NOTE: WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE A COPY ONLY TO MEMBERS OF GOVERNMENT, LAW ENFORCEMENT, MEDIA, AND ACADEMIA, AND TO SUBSCRIBERS; IF YOU DO NOT MEET THESE CRITERIA PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST.
On January 13, 2024, a neo-Nazi Telegram channel posted a video by the newly established group. The video shows acts of vandalism, arson, and assaults. In the clips, men with covered faces give Nazi salutes, attack and pepper-spray people, and draw neo-Nazi graffiti. From the film clips, it appears as if the group targets mostly migrants, drunks, or homeless people. The graffiti shown in the video also supports this conclusion; one message reads: "14/88 Churki go home!" The video clips are accompanied by various neo-Nazi images and photos of the Russian Fascist party with a banner reading: "Let's get our Motherland back!"
The photo and the captions in the video summarize the political stance of the group. The group believes Russia is under the occupation of an anti-Russian regime which attracts migrants to the country. The group opposes Vladimir Putin's government and promotes white supremacist ideas. They dub members and other neo-Nazi groups engaged in the attacks "true patriots." The group also espouses antisemitic beliefs.
The screenshot depicts the video by the neo-Nazi group. The caption reads: "Join us, White Warrior! Anti-Putin regime, antisemitism, fight against ethno-crime. Help the Rus White Warrior! Hundreds of thousands of patriots are already beginning to act, help them! … Fight with any means you can, the main thing is to follow the idea until the end! Stay with comrades, become a comrade!"
The video urges viewers to join the group or organize one themselves. The Telegram channel that dispersed the video specializes in that type of recruitment: It publishes videos of attacks by autonomous cells of neo-Nazis glorifying violence and providing example of actions people can take to support the case. The videos and posts urge subscribers to unite and create their own autonomous groups. This "franchise" tactic allows the main group to maintain relative secrecy and for other cells to evade security forces in case of arrest or detention of one cell or several members.
The screenshot of the post by a neo-Nazi Telegram channel depicts a group assault on an Uzbek. The post is deliberately vague in its description of the perpetrators.
A video of an attack was posted but the perpetrators were identified as "unknown Russian nationalists," who "patrolled the streets of their hometown," and "punished" a citizen of Uzbekistan for allegedly selling alcohol to children.
The post urges readers to unite and patrol the streets of their own city. The message urges: "Friends, gather in white patrols, walk around the courtyards, squares, and back streets and alleys, look for objects suitable for attack and carry out [direct] actions. Who, if not you, will be able to resist the occupiers?"
The full text of this post is available to DTTM subscribers.
If you are a subscriber, log in here to read this report.
For information on the required credentials to access this material, visit the DTTM subscription page
