A leader of a pro-Ukraine Russian nationalist militia has vowed to ride a German tank into Moscow and plant his movement’s flag on the Kremlin towers.
Denis Nikitin, a notorious former football hooligan, heads the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC). He recently led about 40 of his troops into Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine.
In videos and photos, Nikitin can be seen waving an automatic weapon in front of a medical center and a post office, calling on Russians to rise up against President Putin’s regime.
The RVC was created at the beginning of the war and is made up of ethnic Russians who support Ukraine. Most of them, including Nikitin, were living in Ukraine when Russia invaded. Nikitin, who is in his late thirties, said the militia’s ultimate goal was to lead an armed uprising against Putin.
Pro-Ukrainian separatists take control of border villages in western Russia.
The man on the left of the photo is a far-right Russian opposition figure (Denis Nikitin) who has been living in Ukraine since 2017.
He wants to overthrow Putin’s regime. pic.twitter.com/GprX6NG3bA
— Anna (@Anna_Lena2022) March 2, 2023
“One day you will see me ‘riding’ a white German Leopard 2 tank in Moscow,” he says in an interview with The Times. “When I plant the flag of the Russian Volunteer Corps over the Kremlin, we will begin to rebuild the country.”
Although the fighting strength of the RVC is unclear, the Kremlin was spooked by last week’s cross-border incursion, which Nikitin said included a firefight with two Russian armored personnel carriers that tried to stop the militants as they returned to Ukraine. “We used anti-tank weapons,” he says.
Putin called the incident a terrorist attack by neo-Nazis and called a meeting of his national security council. Russian officials also said the RVC killed two civilians in the attack, a claim Nikitin denied.
This week, Russia’s FSB intelligence agency said it had foiled an RVC plot to kill Konstantin Malofeev, a Kremlin-linked tycoon who is an outspoken supporter of the war, with a car bomb.
Nikitin, who is also known as Denis Kapustin, declined to comment on the FSB allegations but promised more cross-border operations.
“Russia is a huge territory and we have a huge following there, including among the military and state security personnel,” he explains. “How else do you think it is possible for such a huge group of heavily armed people to have managed to penetrate 5 kilometers into Russian territory for such a long time without being captured?”
A former mixed martial artist, Nikitin has been linked to neo-Nazis and other far-right figures around the world. He rejected accusations that he was a neo-Nazi, but did not hide his “skinhead past”. Denis Kapustin, however, rejected Putin’s false claim that Ukraine was ruled by a Nazi regime. “That’s obviously not true,” he says.
However, he expressed admiration for the ceremonial elements of Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy. “At least the fascists had style,” he adds. “They paid a lot of attention to appearance. There is nothing like that in today’s Russia.”
For many, the presence of Russian nationalists in the ranks of pro-Ukrainian forces is a surprise. But the Kremlin has long been at odds with parts of the Russian nationalist movement and began a crackdown about a decade ago to stamp out its growing popularity.
“All true Russian nationalists now have the opportunity to face Putin’s repressive machine with guns in their hands, not just with knives as before,” says Nikitin. “We fight to avenge my slain friends.”
While echoing Putin’s comments about what the Kremlin calls the degeneration of the Western world, including his pro-LGBT policies, Nikitin accused the president, who is a former KGB officer, of betraying the Russian people by allowing uncontrolled immigration from former Soviet states in central Asia and enabling the “aggressive” Islamization of Russia, including the construction of a huge mosque in Moscow.
“Putin’s regime is anti-Russian and against the Russian people,” he says. Nikitin accused Putin of seeking to co-opt nationalist ideas to bolster support for the invasion. “Obviously, as soon as they needed more bodies to throw into the furnace of this war against Ukraine, they say Russia for the Russians, and fly the flag.”
Despite its military’s setbacks in Ukraine, the Kremlin still commands a vast security service that should easily be able to crush any internal rebellion. However, Nikitin said he hoped widespread political instability would erupt in Russia if Ukraine regained Crimea, leaving Putin vulnerable. “Our path to the walls of the Kremlin will not be too complicated”, he is categorical.
Although discontent within the Russian military and security services is growing, Abbas Galyamov, a Russian political analyst, said it was unlikely that a significant number of soldiers or military officials had joined the RVC, which was not well known until last week.
Nikitin was one of a group of Russians involved in violent clashes with England supporters in Marseille during Euro 2016. Around 20 England fans were hospitalised. Nikitin denied having organized the violence, but showed no remorse. “It was a hell of a day,” he laughs.
Ukrainian officials tried to distance themselves from the RVC incursion and portrayed it as the result of rising tensions with Russia. A spokeswoman for the International Legion, which was formed at the start of the war to allow foreign nationals to take up arms in defense of Ukraine, told The Times that the organization did not include any Russian militias.
The RVC previously said it was a special unit under the command of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. However, Nikitin denied reports that he told journalists that his actions in Russia were sanctioned by Kiev. “The Russian volunteer corps acts independently and independently makes its decisions beyond the state border of Ukraine,” he said. “Ukraine is my new home, which was attacked by enemies. I protect him.”
