Russian neo-Nazi led border raid militia

THE man who led a militia in a cross-border raid from Ukraine this week is a Russian neo-Nazi football hooligan who wants to inspire his compatriots to rise up against Vladimir Putin.

Denis Nikitin, 38, was previously known for fighting England fans at the 2016 Euros in France and owning a clothing label favoured by white supremacists.

But on Thursday he made headlines when he and 40 others from the little-known Russian Volunteer Corps sneaked across the border to take photos of themselves posing with flags outside a Russian village post office.

“(They) called on their compatriots to take up arms against the multiracial and imperialistic Putin regime,” Mr Nikitin’s White Rex clothing brand said on its Telegram channel after the raid.

In comments to the Financial Times, Mr Nikitin said: “The main thing was to remind Russians that you don’t have to live in shackles, put up with and participate in someone else’s war carrying out someone else’s will.

“We will support everyone who wants to remove these Kremlin usurpers,” he said.

Russia’s FSB intelligence agency accused the “terrorist” group of killing two people and injuring a girl. Mr Nikitin told the FT there was a gun battle but said he did not know of any casualties.

He claimed the raid was sanctioned by the Ukrainian military, but Kyiv has not commented.

Mr Nikitin set up the RVC last August with the aim of recruiting people in Russia to fight “the bald-headed madman who sent hordes of Caucasian-Asian killers” into Ukraine.

It is based in Ukraine, but it is not clear if it has the official backing of the Ukrainian army or government.

Michael Colborne, author of From the Fires of War: Ukraine’s Azov Movement and the Global Far Right, said although there have been other cross-border raids, the make-up of the group makes this one significant, even if the incursion did not achieve anything militarily.

“These are people born in Russia and speaking Russian who are at least talking about posing a threat to the Putin regime,” he said.