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A neo-Nazi organization claimed responsibility for the murder of the SBU Colonel Voronych. Its founder is an American living in Russia

Author:
Oleksandr Bulin
Date:

The Ukrainian branch of the international neo-Nazi terrorist organization The Base claims involvement in the murder of the SBU Colonel Voronych in Kyiv. The organization is suspected of having ties to Russia.

The Guardian writes about this.

For months, The Base has been offering money to supporters or volunteer participants for targeted killings and attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine. Its founder, American Rinaldo Nazzaro, was a Pentagon contractor who worked with US special forces during the war on terror. He now lives in St. Petersburg.

"The execution of the SBU colonel is not the end, but only the beginning. We will continue our fight until justice prevails," said a statement posted on a Telegram channel, which is believed to be linked to the Ukrainian branch of The Base.

The same post added that the group members were “proud of their comrades” who committed the murder and said they didn’t care if skeptics considered them “terrorists and extremists”. In another message to followers, the account also threatened other Ukrainian public figures and vowed: “The hunt continues!”

Until recently, The Base had never publicly supported Putin’s geopolitical goals. In April, the organization launched what it described as an insurgent movement to create a white ethnostate in Transcarpathia. Its Telegram accounts have now uploaded videos of what appear to be police and military vehicles, electrical shields, and other targets being set on fire, along with dozens of other geo-tagged videos in Ukraine.

Nazzaro declined to comment on the Ukrainian branch of The Base and the murder when contacted via Telegram.

"I have no personal connection to this incident and I donʼt know who is responsible for it," he added.

He previously publicly endorsed the groupʼs activities in Ukraine on his Telegram channel, noting that it was coordinated by participants inside Ukraine over whom he did not control.

The Base came under investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2018. It led to dozens of arrests and was designated a terrorist organisation by governments around the world. The Base has recently doubled down on its recruitment efforts in Europe, and with several new national branches across the continent, it has rebuilt its ranks in the US and is clearly exporting its brand abroad.

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