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{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Denis Kapustin
| name = Artem Nozhka
| native_name = {{nobold|Денис Капустин}}
| native_name = {{nobold|Артём Ножка}}
| honorific_suffix =
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Командир РДК (cropped).jpg
| image = Командир РДК (cropped).jpg
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| landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption = Kapustin in May 2023
| caption = Nozhka in May 2023
| pronunciation =
| pronunciation =
| birth_name = Denis Yevgenyevich Kapustin
| birth_name = Artem Nozhka
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1984|3|6|df=yes}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1984|3|6|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Moscow]], [[Russian SFSR]],[[Soviet Union]]
| birth_place = [[Moscow]], [[Russian SFSR]],[[Soviet Union]]
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| footnotes =
| footnotes =
}}
}}
'''Denis Yevgenyevich Kapustin''' ({{lang-ru|Дени́с Евге́ньевич Капу́стин}}; born 6 March 1984), commonly known as '''Denis Nikitin''' ({{lang-ru|Дени́с Ники́тин|label=none}}) or by his [[nom-de-guerre]] '''White Rex''' ({{lang-ru|Уайт Рекс|label=none}}), is a Russian [[far-right]] activist, former football hooligan, and militant. He has been described as a [[neo-Nazi]].<ref name = "ADL">{{Cite web |url=https://extremismterms.adl.org/glossary/denis-kapustin |title=Denis Kapustin |website=[[Anti-Defamation League]]|date=22 May 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Der Neonazi-Krieger |url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/rechtsextremer-kampfsportler-der-neonazi-krieger-aus-moskau-a-1253163.html |access-date=25 May 2023 |publisher=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=14 February 2019 |language=de|quote=The neo-Nazi is officially registered on the ground floor of a grey apartment building. Nikitin, who was born in Moscow, spent his youth here.}}</ref><ref name=Bfm/> Kapustin became a subject of an [[Schengen Area]]-wide entry ban since spring of 2019. After moving to Ukraine, he founded the [[Russian Volunteer Corps]] (RVC) in 2022 and is the group's leader. The Russian government has labeled him a terrorist.<ref name=Strelkov> {{cite web|date=23 May 2023|language=en|title=РЕЙД "РДК" НА БЕЛГОРОДЩИНУ ВЫЗВАЛ ПАНИКУ В РОССИИ — ISW|url=https://zn.ua/war/rejd-rdk-na-belhorodshchinu-vyzval-paniku-v-rossii-isw.html|website=zn.ua}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref name=KRDK>{{cite news|date=3 March 2023|language=en|title=Alleged 'terrorist' attack in West Russia fuels hard-line pressure on Putin|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/03/bryansk-russia-terrorist-attack-border/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>
'''Artem Nozhka''' ({{lang-ru|Артём Ножка}}; born 6 March 1984), commonly known as '''Denis Nikitin''' ({{lang-ru|Дени́с Ники́тин|label=none}}) or by his [[nom-de-guerre]] '''White Rex''' ({{lang-ru|Уайт Рекс|label=none}}), is a Russian [[far-right]] activist, former football hooligan, and militant. He has been described as a [[neo-Nazi]].<ref name = "ADL">{{Cite web |url=https://extremismterms.adl.org/glossary/denis-kapustin |title=Denis Kapustin |website=[[Anti-Defamation League]]|date=22 May 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Der Neonazi-Krieger |url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/rechtsextremer-kampfsportler-der-neonazi-krieger-aus-moskau-a-1253163.html |access-date=25 May 2023 |publisher=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=14 February 2019 |language=de|quote=The neo-Nazi is officially registered on the ground floor of a grey apartment building. Nikitin, who was born in Moscow, spent his youth here.}}</ref><ref name=Bfm/> Nozhka became a subject of an [[Schengen Area]]-wide entry ban since spring of 2019. After moving to Ukraine, he founded the [[Russian Volunteer Corps]] (RVC) in 2022 and is the group's leader. The Russian government has labeled him a terrorist.<ref name=Strelkov> {{cite web|date=23 May 2023|language=en|title=РЕЙД "РДК" НА БЕЛГОРОДЩИНУ ВЫЗВАЛ ПАНИКУ В РОССИИ — ISW|url=https://zn.ua/war/rejd-rdk-na-belhorodshchinu-vyzval-paniku-v-rossii-isw.html|website=zn.ua}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref name=KRDK>{{cite news|date=3 March 2023|language=en|title=Alleged 'terrorist' attack in West Russia fuels hard-line pressure on Putin|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/03/bryansk-russia-terrorist-attack-border/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>


== Early life ==
== Early life ==
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His reach was limited in 2019 when Germany issued him a [[Schengen Area|Schengen]] ban, or European-wide ban for “efforts against the liberal democratic constitution”.<ref>[https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/russian-hooligan-neo-nazi-and-martial-artist-denis-kapustin-barred-from-schengen-area/ Russian Hooligan, Neo-Nazi and Martial Artist Denis Kapustin Barred from Schengen Area], SchengenVisaInfo.com, September 3, 2019</ref> This also applies to Switzerland.
His reach was limited in 2019 when Germany issued him a [[Schengen Area|Schengen]] ban, or European-wide ban for “efforts against the liberal democratic constitution”.<ref>[https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/russian-hooligan-neo-nazi-and-martial-artist-denis-kapustin-barred-from-schengen-area/ Russian Hooligan, Neo-Nazi and Martial Artist Denis Kapustin Barred from Schengen Area], SchengenVisaInfo.com, September 3, 2019</ref> This also applies to Switzerland.


In Switzerland he provided combat-training to members of the far-right [[Swiss Nationalist Party]] (PNOS).<ref name="SRF" /> According to [[Reuters]] he "has frequently described himself as a nationalist fighting for a Russia that belongs to ethnic Russians", but has "rejected the neo-Nazi and white supremacist characterisations."<ref name="Reuters2023-05-11">{{Cite news |last1=Pikulicka-Wilczewska |first1=Agnieszka |last2=Pikulicka-Wilczewska |first2=Agnieszka |date=2023-05-11 |title=How Russians end up in a far-right militia fighting in Ukraine |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/how-russians-end-up-far-right-militia-fighting-ukraine-2023-05-11/ |access-date=2023-05-27}}</ref>
In Switzerland, he provided combat-training to members of the far-right [[Swiss Nationalist Party]] (PNOS).<ref name="SRF" /> According to [[Reuters]] he "has frequently described himself as a nationalist fighting for a Russia that belongs to ethnic Russians", but has "rejected the neo-Nazi and white supremacist characterisations."<ref name="Reuters2023-05-11">{{Cite news |last1=Pikulicka-Wilczewska |first1=Agnieszka |last2=Pikulicka-Wilczewska |first2=Agnieszka |date=2023-05-11 |title=How Russians end up in a far-right militia fighting in Ukraine |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/how-russians-end-up-far-right-militia-fighting-ukraine-2023-05-11/ |access-date=2023-05-27}}</ref>


== In Ukraine ==
== In Ukraine ==

Revision as of 16:53, 2 June 2023

Artem Nozhka
Артём Ножка
Nozhka in May 2023
Born
Artem Nozhka

(1984-03-06) 6 March 1984 (age 40)
Moscow, Russian SFSR,Soviet Union
NationalityRussian
Other namesWhite Rex
CitizenshipUkraine
Organization Russian Volunteer Corps
Known for2023 Bryansk Oblast raid
2023 Belgorod Oblast attack

Artem Nozhka (Russian: Артём Ножка; born 6 March 1984), commonly known as Denis Nikitin (Дени́с Ники́тин) or by his nom-de-guerre White Rex (Уайт Рекс), is a Russian far-right activist, former football hooligan, and militant. He has been described as a neo-Nazi.[1][2][3] Nozhka became a subject of an Schengen Area-wide entry ban since spring of 2019. After moving to Ukraine, he founded the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) in 2022 and is the group's leader. The Russian government has labeled him a terrorist.[4][5]

Early life

Members of the Russian Volunteer Corps on 24 May 2023. Kapustin is in the middle foreground.

Born 6 March 1984, raised in Moscow, In 2001, when he was 17, Kapustin's family moved to Chorweiler-Cologne, Germany.[6] According to Der Spiegel, the Kapustin family are Russian Jews.[6][3]

Involvement in far-right European politics

During his time in Cologne, Kapustin was radicalised and became a well-known far-right figure who was associated with the far-right hooligan scene and was involved in football rioting. He is deeply rooted in the far-right football hooliganism scene and led a small group during the UEFA Euro 2016 riots at the 2016 European Football Championship in the port of Marseille.[7]

The interior ministry of Herbert Reul (CDU) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, called him "one of the most influential neo-Nazi activists" in Germany, and noted that he professionalized the fighting subculture in the country.[3] He also lead a lifestyle brand called White Rex, featuring a Black Sun logo favoured by neo-Nazi groups, through which he distributed T-Shirts often with violent, white nationalist, xenophobic imagery and text, as the Nazi symbol 88, which by neo-Nazis is translated into Heil Hitler.[8] He saw the brand as a kind of National Socialist complete outfitter.[7]

Kapustin organized and facilitated meet ups of radical right groups across Europe and the United States, his commercialization of Mixed martial arts (MMA) allowed for the expansion and increased corroboration and militancy within the radical right. 2018 Kapustin was networking throughout Europe: not only did he help set up the martial arts events, he also offered martial arts seminars and weapon training from Wales to Switzerland, and maintained good contacts in the fan scenes of Sparta Prague and Legia Warsaw. He also appeared as a fighter and speaker at the "Kampf der Nibelungen" (KdN). With his mixture of modern military sports exercises, international networks and neo-fascist event culture, hardly anyone was as symbolic of the professionalization of right-wing violence as Kapustin. Kapustin was the key figure in the Europe-wide networks of extreme right-wing political activists and the professionalization of physical violence.[7]

His reach was limited in 2019 when Germany issued him a Schengen ban, or European-wide ban for “efforts against the liberal democratic constitution”.[9] This also applies to Switzerland.

In Switzerland, he provided combat-training to members of the far-right Swiss Nationalist Party (PNOS).[8] According to Reuters he "has frequently described himself as a nationalist fighting for a Russia that belongs to ethnic Russians", but has "rejected the neo-Nazi and white supremacist characterisations."[10]

In Ukraine

He was a supporter of the Euromaidan, and since 2018, Kapustin has lived in Ukraine.[8] Kapustin worked with the Azov Battalion, a right-wing paramilitary group, in Ukraine until its fight club, the Reconquista Club shut down in 2019.[11]

Since January 2021 he has co-hosted the Active Club podcast with Robert Rundo, leader of the American Rise Above Movement.[1] In Ukraine he founded the Russian Volunteer Corps in August 2022, a group of volunteers fighting for Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War. According to Denis Sokolov of the Civic Council these fighters received regular salaries from the Ukrainian defence ministry in Kyiv.[10]

In 2023 he attacked Bryansk Oblast with several RVC members. He has since been listed as a terrorist by the Russian Federation.[4] On May 22, 2023, Kapustin, as the head of Russian Volunteer Corps, was involved in the Belgorod Oblast attack, a cross-border raid into the Russian region Belgorod.[12]

Bibliography

  • Robert Claus (2017): Hooligans. Eine Welt zwischen Fußball, Gewalt und Politik. Göttingen.
  • Pavel Brunssen, Peter Römer, and Robert Claus (2021): ‘Defenders of European Culture’: ‘Refugee Crisis,’ Football Hooliganism, and the Right-Wing Shift in Europe, in Football, Politics and Identity, ed. James Carr, Martin J. Power, Stephen Millar, Daniel Parnell (Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 108–125; https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003002628-8.

References

  1. ^ a b "Denis Kapustin". Anti-Defamation League. 22 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Der Neonazi-Krieger" (in German). Der Spiegel. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2023. The neo-Nazi is officially registered on the ground floor of a grey apartment building. Nikitin, who was born in Moscow, spent his youth here.
  3. ^ a b c "GUERRE EN UKRAINE: QUI SONT LA LÉGION LIBERTÉ ET LE RDK, CES UNITÉS RUSSES ANTI-POUTINE" (in French). BFM TV. 25 May 2023..
  4. ^ a b "РЕЙД "РДК" НА БЕЛГОРОДЩИНУ ВЫЗВАЛ ПАНИКУ В РОССИИ — ISW". zn.ua. 23 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Alleged 'terrorist' attack in West Russia fuels hard-line pressure on Putin". The Washington Post. 3 March 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Rechtsextremer Kampfsportler Der Neonazi-Krieger". Der Spiegel (in German). 14 February 2019. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Der extrem rechte Kampfsportboom, 5 November 2018
  8. ^ a b c "Russisches Freiwilligenkorps - Denis Kapustin – so tickt der russische Neonazi in der Ukraine". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (in German). 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  9. ^ Russian Hooligan, Neo-Nazi and Martial Artist Denis Kapustin Barred from Schengen Area, SchengenVisaInfo.com, September 3, 2019
  10. ^ a b Pikulicka-Wilczewska, Agnieszka; Pikulicka-Wilczewska, Agnieszka (11 May 2023). "How Russians end up in a far-right militia fighting in Ukraine". Reuters. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  11. ^ RENÉ NISSEN, KIRIL AVRAMOV, AND JASON ROBERTS: White Rex, White Nationalism, and Combat Sport, The Journal of Illiberalism Studies; Vol. 1 No. 2 (2021), pape 19-37
  12. ^ Miller, Christopher; Ivanova, Polina; Schwartz, Felicia (23 May 2023). "Militias used US armoured vehicles in attack over Russian border". Financial Times. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
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