Today, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) issued a statement saying they had “detained 16 supporters of the MKU Ukrainian radical youth crew, involved in violent crimes, the propaganda of extremism and preparations to carry out explosions at government buildings and armed attacks on civilians.” FSB showed a video of one of them saying: “There were plans to carry out mass killings in several Russian cities, including Tambov, St. Petersburg, Samara and Saratov.” Another detainee said that they were instructed by MKU’s leader Yegor Krasnov, who “handed down instructions to carry out mass killings and explosions, set buildings on fire and shoot down people from the Caucasus and Arab countries.”
In February, when the FSB arrested three individuals in Voronezh (near the Ukraine border) for stirring up racial animosity, they claimed that the MKU was a project of Ukraine’s Security Service, being run by one Yegor Krasnov; and that it recruited manipulable youth into neo-Nazi rage operations. The FSB’s acronym “MKU” stands for “Manyaki: Kult Ubiyts” or “Maniacs: Cult of Killers.” The youth were evidently instructed and motivated online.
Neo-Nazism is far from dead in Ukraine. In the evening of April 28, there was a neo-Nazi march from Kiev’s Arsenalnaya Square to Maidan Nezalezhnosti, of about 100 people, celebrating the World War II Nazi infantry division, the SS Galicia. Local police helpfully blocked off the road for the march. Curiously, Ukraine has banned the May 9 World War II Victory Day parade of the victory over Hitler, citing the problem of Covid. However, not so much for the SS Galicia marchers, who did not wear masks. Ukrainian news agency Strana quoted one marcher: “We are the force that will rule this country. We are the force that will wage war on its own territory. We are the force that will fight in Moscow. We are proud and remember the deeds of the SS division Galicia.”
