First major appearance of Russian RDK fighters in Germany at “anti-Putin demo.” Founded in 2022, the RDK is considered one of the most dangerous neo-Nazi organizations in the world. Police and media show no interest.
Image via video screenshot.
By Susann Witt-Stahl, junge Welt, March 5, 2025. Translated by Helmut-Harry Loewen.*
Berlin is turning into a parade ground for fascist hordes. Shortly after the visit of the Azov brigade of the Kiev National Guard [1], the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), which fights under the command of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Directorate [2], made its first major public appearance in Germany. On Saturday, March 1, combatants and several dozen supporters of the paramilitary neo-Nazi unit formed a bloc at the “Anti-Putin Demonstration,” which started at Potsdamer Platz and was led by the widow of the right-wing Russian “dissident” Alexei Navalny.
The blue front banner and flags of the RDK bloc were emblazoned with the white shield-and-sword logo. The Azov “Wolfsangel” symbol, borrowed from the troop mark of the SS armored division “Das Reich,” was also presented. The symbol is banned in Germany. Various participants in the march also violated the ban on wearing masks and completely concealed their faces behind balaclavas or scarves. Some distributed flyers with RDK recruitment advertising — an offence according to §109h of the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch) — on which the Nazi codes “88” for “Heil Hitler!” and “14” for the “Fourteen Words” [3] of the white supremacist movement are found. As far as is currently known, police officers who were on the scene did not intervene. As videos document, the neo-Nazi mob was even able to chant unhindered a death threat: “Putinists will be hanging from the trees instead of leaves” [“Anstelle von Blättern werden Putinisten an den Bäumen hängen”].
Although RDK leader Denis “White Rex” Kapustin did not travel to the event — presumably due to a ban on his entering the Schengen area that was imposed in 2019 and is still in force — other militant criminals on the wanted lists of Russian security authorities did. This includes Vladimir Ratnikov from Moscow, leader of the Nazi “Black Bloc,” who has been granted “political asylum” in Lithuania. He was one of the organizers of the march, which was also attended by German fascists displaying an “Anti-Communist Youth” banner. RDK is supported by the neo-Nazi party ”Der III. Weg” [“The Third Way”]. People associated with the party have formed the German Volunteer Corps which is affiliated with RDK. In August 2024, they met at a “Nation Europe” conference in Lviv in western Ukraine.
According to Ratnikov, however, it was mainly Russian migrants who took part in the RDK bloc during the “anti-Putin demonstration,” which according to the police included some 800 participants. RDK fighter Ilya Bogdanov, former platoon leader of a Right Sector [Pravyi sektor] unit, who can be seen on social media photos gesturing with a Hitler salute, also enjoyed the law-free zone in Berlin. In front of the camera, Bogdanov assured the audience that he was watching on behalf of his leader “White Rex” to ensure that no Russian flags were waved in his column.
Founded in 2022, the RDK is currently considered one of the most dangerous neo-Nazi organizations in the world, thanks to the support of the Zelensky government, Germany and other NATO countries: “We receive a salary, official documents and veteran status. We also have Western weapons, the best models,” Kapustin boasted last year, claiming that the delivery of two Leopard tanks was already in the offing.
RDK sees itself in the tradition of the Russian Vlasov Army, which fought for Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Some members even wear the troop markings of the notorious SS special unit “Dirlewanger” [4] on their uniforms. The more German continuities emerge, the more resolutely they are denied. From the ARD television network’s “Tagesschau” newscast to daily Berliner Zeitung — for the German mainstream media, there was no RDK bloc at the demonstration, only “human rights activists” and members of the "Russian opposition.” And from bellicose politicians representing a “fortified democracy” and a civil society readied for war — as well as the Autonomous Antifa, whose message, signalled by its absence, was: “Nix da, nothing to see - Alerta, Antifascista!” — there were no protests against this gruesome Nazi spectacle.
[1] See Azov and the German military. In search of “supporters”: offshoot of the fascist Azov brigade abroad in Germany and Evasion and silence: Questions about the guest appearance of a branch of the fascist Azov brigade in Germany remain unanswered
[2] Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine; often abbreviated as “HUR.”
[3] The white supremacist slogan, "Fourteen Words," formulated by the Aryan Nations' Silent Brotherhood / The Order in the 1980s: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children."
[4] SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger (1944), or the 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS; also known as the "Black Hunters." This SS unit, led by Oskar Dirlewanger, a sadist convicted of child rape and other crimes, was considered to be one of the most brutal Nazi units during the Second World War.
Image from the rally via junge Welt
* “Russische Faschisten in der BRD. Aufmarsch mit Nazikorps. Berlin: Erster großer Auftritt russischer Kämpfer des RDK in Deutschland im Zuge von »Anti-Putin-Demo«. Polizei und Medien ohne Interesse.” Susann Witt-Stahl, junge Welt, 05.03.2025. The translator has lightly edited the text and added the notes.
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