The Involvement of Russian Ultra-Nationalists in the Donbas Conflict
Several cities in Donbas, the eastern portion of Ukraine comprising the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, have been embroiled in Russian-sponsored secessionist violence against Ukrainian authorities since early April 2014. And while Russia has no officially identified uniformed troops in the region, there are claims that it has been involved in the fighting through the deployment of irregulars, like the Chechen Vostok battalion (see EDM, May 30). Other irregular forces have also been involved, such as hardline Russian nationalists. Now it appears there are connections to the most extreme nationalists, Russia’s neo-Nazi movement. Posting on Facebook, Alexander Belov, the leader of the banned Movement Against Illegal Immigration (known by its Russian acronym DPNI), announced the death in Donetsk of Sergei Vorotsev. Vorotsev was a former organizer for the DPNI in the Moscow Region town of Korolev (Official Facebook page of DPNI, June 4). According to the same posting, Vorotsev was killed in the battle for the Donetsk airport.
https://jamestown.org/program/the-invol ... -conflict/
Thousands of nationalists rallied across Russia on National Unity Day on Monday, reflecting the growing strength of far-right political forces galvanized by an anti-immigrant agenda.
Hard-line nationalists have adopted the holiday, which commemorates the liberation of Moscow from Polish invaders in 1612, as an occasion to hold marches that tend to have a decidedly xenophobic tone. This year's rallies were larger and more numerous than in previous years, worrying Russian authorities that rising ethnic tensions could pose a threat to public order.
At the largest rally, some 8,000 people assembled in a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Moscow, police said. Marchers waved black, yellow and white flags, the old monarchist flag of the Romanov dynasty, which has in recent years been adopted as a nationalist symbol.
Others carried banners and placards with slogans like "White power" and "Russia for the Russians."
"Moscow has only just woken up, and Russians have only just started to recognize their identity," said Alexander Belov, a nationalist leader and an organizer of the march. "With every day, Russian nationalists are gaining more and more support across the country."
Police said they detained about 30 marchers for wearing masks or forbidden Nazi symbols and for other minor public-order offenses, but no serious
disturbances were reported.
[url]http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/11/4/russian-nationalunitydaymarkedbyantiimmigrantrallies.html[/url]
