British The Guardian reports that the neo-Nazi paramilitary group Rusich, which is believed to have ties to the Kremlin, has asked their followers to gather and provide information about military infrastructure in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
According to The Guardian, such a request from this group raises concerns about a possible plan of attack on NATO member states.
On Wednesday, the 7th of December, an article about Rusich activity was published on sargs.lv of Latvian Ministry of Defence.
Rusich has close ties to Russian mercenary group Wagner, and their members currently wage war in Ukraine on Russia’s side.
Rusich official Telegram channel posted a request for its followers to collect information about border checkpoints and military activity in Baltic States.
The publication was seen by more than 60 000 followers of their Telegram channel. In this publication, Rusich asks followers to provide information about military units, members, their relatives and personal transport. Followers were also asked to report patrol routs, border checkpoints, their surveillance systems and locations of vehicles, as well as information about communication towers and security solution on the border, fuel stores and security systems in border regions.
Anonymous sources report that such a step from Rusich may indicate disappointment with Kremlin’s policy and how the war goes for Russia.
Sources add that the Kremlin may lose control over far-right paramilitary organisations, whoucl could employ extreme measures to continue the war in Ukraine. This would create concerns about escalation if a NATO member state is attacked.
But sources say this is unlikely that the Kremlin is directly involved in this,
because Russian intelligence services likely already have information about Baltic States’ border infrastructure and military activity.
«Does this indicate Russia’s system is fractured? What will happen in Russians lose control over them [paramilitary groups] and they take charge, which would indirectly cause an escalation? The real question is: how much control does Kremlin really have?» asked on the of the sources.
Latest information indicates that multiple paramilitary groups, such as Russian businessman Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s Wagner, already have considerable autonomy and free access to Russian President Vladimir Putin and state officials.
Although recently there has been documented synergy between Rusich and Wagner online channels, it remains unclear who has strategic supervision over Rusich: Wagner or Russia’s Ministry of Defence.
Rusich position themselves as a sabotage and reconnaissance force. Often efforts to secure financing, however, indicate that the Kremlin does not support them at all.