Russian neo-Nazi paramilitary group Rusich took to Telegram in mid-November to post a photo of one of its fighters posing in front of three bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. In the photo, the Russian fighter, wearing a ski mask and a bulletproof vest and carrying a Kalashnikov, poses proudly in front of three bodies on the ground. The three dead men are all dressed in the military fatigues – complete with a yellow armband – worn by Ukrainian soldiers, though they have been stripped of their weapons. The photo, which was posted on Telegram on November 15, is captioned: “Take this as an example. That’s how an army of victors takes photos, not victims.”

 

 A few hours later, the photo was followed by a second post, this time one that called on followers to send similar images in order to obtain an unspecified sum of cryptocurrency. 

The message goes on to become even more macabre. “We are announcing a competition. The first three people who send a photo of prisoners who have clearly been executed will get a crypto money reward from Rusich.”

 

Today, Rusich has become a byword for terror, says Candace Rondeaux, a professor at Arizona State University: 

"Rusich is one of the pillars of the irregular warfare that the Kremlin has been engaged in since 2014.  Their aim is to terrorise their adversaries by showing off their brutality.

 

The Russian neo-Nazi group that regularly posts images of war crimes

 

Videos posted on social media by the Rusich paramilitary group feature pagan rituals, heavy machine guns and Nazi salutes and promote violence and supremacist ideology.© Telegram / dshrg2 - Molfar.Institute

 

 

The members of the unit regularly show off ultra-nationalist and neo-Nazi symbols on Telegram. Case in point: the badge worn by members of the unit, which features an ultra-nationalist symbol called the Kolovrat superimposed on top of the Russian imperial flag (black, yellow and white).

 

Sort of like The Ukrainians before they had to hide it in order to keep getting the money they wanted to steal

I see Soviet Whataboutism at work. These guys must be paid.

 

Its a bit like objecting to the fight against the Nazis because of Boer War, Philippine-American War.

 

Notably this Yagoda chap (Russian I assume) does not condemn the Russian solders from raping women. In fact indicates he approves of it, because allegedly the Ukrainians did the same , but covered up. Offers no proof, and just buggers off to collect his cheque, job done (always looking for stories critical of Russia, instructed to always counter them with "Yeah but Ukraine.....".). He saw the headline, and automatically thought "I better defend Z-Russians committing mass rape and murder".