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The Russian militia led by Denis Kapustin takes on the Kremlin. How does Kapustin tick? A search for clues.
Kapustin and the attacks in Russia: After the recent attacks on targets in the Russian border region, the leader of a Russian militia has announced new attacks.
“I think you’ll see us on the other side again,” Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) commander Denis Kapustin told reporters on the Ukrainian side of the border. “There will again be a place where things get hot.”
Kapustin’s connections to Switzerland: The “White Rex” network sells its own martial arts brand, founded by Denis Kapustin. A YouTube video shows Kapustin giving combat training to the right-wing extremist “Party of Nationally Oriented Swiss” (Pnos). The party disbanded in 2022.
Research by the “Rundschau” and the “Tagesanzeiger” had shown in 2019: Anyone who ordered T-shirts or boxing gloves from “White Rex” bought from the Swiss Fighttex AG. At that time, the only member of the board of directors was the Vice President of Pnos, Florian Gerber.
The sponsor of the shipping company was the owner of the renowned Roviva mattress factory, Peter Patrik Roth. A photo showed him together with Kapustin. After the research was published, Roth withdrew his capital from the mail-order company.
Contradictory biography: Kapustin’s biography is riddled with contradictions. Born in Moscow, he came to Germany with his family in 2001 – as a Jewish quota refugee. The “Spiegel” reported in 2019 that Kapustin grew up in Cologne in a multicultural neighborhood. Two points in his life became central early on: martial arts and right-wing extremist ideologies.
Ideas: According to the German Federal Agency for Civic Education, Kapustin’s label “White Rex” explains that the aim is to “anchor sport in the healthy part of our European youth”. Kapustin’s ideology can already be guessed at from the design of the items: He offers T-shirts with “88” inscription, a well-known code for the greeting “Heil Hitler” in the right-wing extremist scene. Kapustin was firmly anchored in the right-wing extremist scene during his time in Germany, writes the “Spiegel”.
Legend:
Reuters/Viacheslav Ratynskyi
He maintained contact with Thorsten Heise and Thommy Frenck, two leading neo-Nazis from East Germany. Meanwhile, Kapustin has been banned from entering the entire Schengen area. This also applies to Switzerland. As the “Spiegel” reports, he has apparently been living in Ukraine since 2018.
Already in March 2023 there were crossings near Briansk on the Russian border. Also involved here: Kapustin and his groups.
Relationship to Russia: As clear as his political views are, his relationship with Russia and Ukraine is just as ambivalent. On the one hand he maintained good contacts in the right-wing extremist Russian hooligan scene, on the other hand he has been living in hostile Ukraine for years.
According to the journalist Michael Colborne, who has been researching Kapustin for years, the ambivalent relationship with Russia is not a contradiction in terms. Kapustin actually rejects the Russian state and Vladimir Putin in particular. He is more of a “white nationalist than a Russian nationalist,” said Colborne.