Russian Volunteer Corps

The Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC; Русский добровольческий корпус, РДК) is a far-right paramilitary unit of Russian citizens, based in Ukraine. It was formed in August 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to fight against the government of Vladimir Putin. The group reportedly consists of Russian emigrants who are primarily united by their opposition to Putin. According to Ukrainian military officials, the group is not a part of the Ukrainian armed forces. Assessments of the ideology of this group vary from far-right and white nationalist to neo-Nazi. The group positions themselves as right-wing conservative. Its leader is reportedly Denis Kapustin, a neo-Nazi who in 2019 was banned from the Schengen Area.

The group claimed responsibility for a March 2023 raid into the Bryansk region of Russia. Since May 2023, it has been launching larger cross-border raids into the Belgorod region of Russia, alongside the Freedom of Russia Legion.

Origin and aims
The Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) was founded in August 2022 The founder and leader of the group is Denis Nikitin, who has been described as a neo-Nazi. According to the Ukrainian news agency Glavcom, the RVC was formed by Russian volunteers who had started fighting for Ukraine in the Azov Regiment and other units in 2014. According to Polish news agency Vot Tak, unlike the Freedom of Russia Legion, the leadership of the RVC does not rely on Russian POWs-turned-defectors, but on Russian right-wing emigrants living in Ukraine.

The RVC says it is made up of ethnic Russians fighting to defend Ukraine against Russia's invasion and to overthrow the government of Vladimir Putin. It asserts Russia's government should abandon its imperial ambitions and instead focus on improving the well-being of ethnic Russians. The RVC say they believe in self-determination for Russia's various ethnic minorities and "want to see a smaller, ethnic Russian state".

RVC uses the symbols of the anti-Bolshevik Russian Liberation Army, largely composed of Soviet prisoners of war in German captivity who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II, but also helped Czech partisans in the Prague uprising against the German occupation.

Ideology
According to official RVC statement, their flag is ideological fusion of Victor Larionov's organizations - a person "from whose ideas, principles and beliefs we build off of, drawing parallels of historical and political continuity". Victor Larionov was a member of the anti-communist White movement during the Russian Civil War who, while being exiled in 1930s created a "White Idea" - an organization that in December 1937 would join Russian Fascist party. After Socialist coalition came to power in France in 1938, Larionov, among others was deported to Germany, where he became an employee of Novoe Slovo, a pro-Nazi newspaper published by Russian émigrés in Berlin between 1933 and 1944. During the "Great Patriotic War" he worked for Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories and was a member of the Russian Liberation Army.

In May 2023 RVC posted their official manifesto called "Homo ethnicus". In this manifesto RVC rejects both Liberalism and Communism while presenting a third way - an "Ethnic worldview" encompassing unity by blood and by nation. Yulia Latynina compared the organization's manifesto to Mein Kampf. In May 2023, Denis Kapustin described himself as a "patriot", a "traditionalist", a "right-winger", but rejected the label "neo-Nazi", saying "you’ll never find me waving a flag with a swastika, you’ll never find me raising my hand in a Hitler salute. So why would you call me that?". However, Kapustin's clothing brand features the Black Sun and "88" symbols favoured by Nazis and neo-Nazis, as well as phrases such as "SS for Sweet 'n' sexy".

One of the members told DW that their goal is a "true nation-state of Russians in the original Russian territories — taking into account the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Belarus, as well as neighboring countries. We want to establish a state for Russians that lives in peace with all the nations that surround it."

German authorities have cautioned that the RVC fighting Ukraine serves as a strategic advantage for Russian propagandists, enabling them to portray the Russian invasion in Ukraine as a purported effort to "de-Nazify" the nation. "De-Nazifiction" is a common talking point in Russian disinformation to justify the invasion of Ukraine.

Organization
The group gathers its forces through recruiting anti-Putin activists with civilian backgrounds and then coordinates with various political factions that move individuals across borders. Those associated with the RVC come from differing ideological backgrounds. They frequently share nothing other than a mutual opposition to the invasion of Ukraine coupled with the aim of ending the current Russian government.

Reuters has recounted assertions that "RVC fighters [have] received regular salaries from the Ukrainian defence ministry" as well as that the overall "unit [has] numbered up to 200 fighters". However, the news agency has cautioned that these statements have not been independently verified.

The RVC maintains a "Free Cossack Squad" consisting of Cossack volunteers primarily from the Kuban region of southern Russia with the unit reportedly taking part in the fighting in Avdiivka and Svatove.

Affiliations
According to Ilya Ponomarev, the RVC took part in a press conference on 31 August 2022 with the Freedom of Russia Legion and the National Republican Army when they signed a joint declaration. He claimed that the RVC also agreed to join the agreement.

In October 2022, the RVC published its manifesto, identifying itself as "part of Ukraine's Armed Forces", although Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment. In March 2023, Ukrainian military officials said the RVC was an independent group. Ilya Ponomarev, political representative of the Freedom of Russia Legion, said the RVC has contacts with the Ukrainian military but operates in a "gray area".

Members
Members of the group include former FSB agent Ilya Bogdanov and former actor Kirill Kanakhin.

Bryansk Oblast raid
On 2 March 2023, the Russian authorities claimed that an armed Ukrainian group crossed the border and carried out a "terrorist attack" in the villages of Lyubechane and Sushany, in Bryansk Oblast. Russia said the attackers fired on a car, killing two civilians, before the Federal Security Service forced them back into Ukraine. On 9 March, Russia launched a barrage of missile strikes at Ukrainian civilian infrastructure in what it called "retaliation" for the attack. The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility for the alleged cross-border raid, and posted videos of armed men in Lyubechane with their insignia, urging Russians to "rise up and fight" against the government.

Ukrainian officials denied involvement, saying it was either a Russian false flag attack or a case of Russians rebelling against their government.

On 6 April 2023, the Russian Volunteer Corps again claimed to have crossed the border into Bryansk Oblast, entering the village of Sluchovsk. While Russian authorities claimed that an attempted incursion was prevented, the Russian Volunteer Corps released video showing them inside the village. During the incursion, combat operations were allegedly carried out.

Belgorod Oblast raids
On 22 May 2023, the RVC and the Freedom of Russia Legion launched a larger raid into Russia, this time in Grayvoronsky District, Belgorod Oblast; videos that circulated online showed armed men who said they belonged to the RVC saying they had crossed the border to fight "the bloody Putinite and Kremlin regime". The governor of Belgorod Oblast said that a Ukrainian "sabotage group" had entered the region and that a "counterterrorism regime" was introduced. The paramilitaries reportedly captured several border villages. On 24 May, the RVC held a press conference on the Ukrainian side of the border. Denis 'White Rex' said they were satisfied with the raid, saying they had seized weapons, an armoured personnel carrier, and taken prisoners before leaving Russian territory after 24 hours. He said that two RVC fighters were wounded and that Ukraine provided support only with medical supplies, fuel and food. Separately, the Freedom of Russia Legion said two of its fighters had been killed and 10 wounded.