Houses of Christchurch shooter followers raided

Ukraine’s secret service has discovered guns, explosives and ammunition at the headquarters of what it says is a neo-Nazi cell whose members were followers of the Australian man who carried out the Christchurch mosque terrorist attacks last year.

SBU officials raided two premises in the capital Kiev and in Kharkiv – Ukraine’s secondlargest city – following a report about the group published last year by the investigative website Bellingcat.

That report examined Russian and Ukrainian language versions of the shooter’s 74-page manifesto that were being printed and distributed as well as shared online.

Bellingcat reporter Christo Grozev said a message posted on a Telegram group hosted by the cell made veiled threats of an attack as retaliation for the raid carried out on Wednesday morning (Ukraine time).

The manifesto, which the shooter published online shortly before carrying out his attacks, is banned in New Zealand but Kiwi law cannot prevent the spread of the document elsewhere, including in Eastern European and Balkan countries where he travelled and met fellow far-right extremists.

Bellingcat links the spread of the document outside the English-speaking world to neoNazi group Wotanjugend.

While it’s ‘‘not clear who may have actually translated the manifesto and whether it was an individual(s) associated with Wotanjugend, it’s clear that the Kiev-based, Russia-rooted neoNazi group has been at the forefront of promoting it online,’’ Bellingcat reported.

There is no evidence of the shooter having visited Ukraine, where he is said to have inspired the neo-Nazi cell. He had travelled to Russia, according to a letter he wrote from prison. On March 15, 2019, he posted his manifesto to social media where it was shared through extremist channels.

Armed with semi-automatic firearms, the gunman entered the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch and opened fire on worshippers. He then travelled to the Linwood Mosque and again opened fire.

This year, when he pleaded guilty to the attacks, he was convicted of terrorism, 51 murders and 40 charges of attempted murder .

The SBU said the group was headed by a Russian and shared extremist literature online, at secret meetings and theme parties as well as with up to 3000 people via secret groups on the messaging platform Telegram and social media networks.

‘‘During the searches of the leader’s residence and clandestine print works, the law enforcement seized more than 300 copies of Nazi editions, the Third Reich flags, arms and ammo, explosive devices, computers administering the closed communities and receipts with confirmations of literature deliveries from abroad,’’ the SBU said.

Earlier, it seized 200 copies of extremist literature in Kharkiv. – Sydney Morning Herald

‘‘During the searches ... the law enforcement seized more than 300 copies of Nazi editions.’’

SBU statement