The commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) fighting alongside Ukraine, Denis Kapustin *, who in the early 2010s participated in the organization of combat tournaments under the White Rex brand, offered cooperation to the AMC Fight Nights league in the past. On this subject said founder and president of Fight Nights Kamil Gadzhiev in the program Russian media Chronicles of the New World.
“There was a case, they somehow talked to us and even offered some sort of collaboration. But something didn’t work out that way. <...> But also, somehow this ‘ultra-right’ smelled bad, and somehow we didn’t go there,” he said.
According to Hajiyev, the organizers of the White Rex tournaments also did not insist on further cooperation. As the head of Fight Nights suggested, due to the fact that some representatives of the league are from the Caucasus.
“And they haven’t contacted us either, because it turns out that a number of organizations in Russia are still Caucasians. And we’re not close to them either. Let’s just say it didn’t market,” he added.
In March and May 2023, the Russian Volunteer Corps carried out a series of attacks in the Russian border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod, which the Investigative Committee called terrorist attacks. During a sortie in Bryansk, RDK fighters fired at a civilian car, as a result of which the driver died and a child was injured. The invasion of the Belgorod region took place on May 22, 2023 in the area of the Graivoron border crossing. On the same day, the militants were driven out of the territory of the Belgorod region.
About White Rex Tournament and Clothing Brand
Denis Kapustin* left Russia for Germany in 2001 with his family, where he became a far-right supporter. A few years later he returned to Russia, became a member of the CSKA fan movement and in 2008 created the White Rex clothing brand, which gained popularity among far-right activists in Russia and Europe.
Since 2011 under the White Rex Kapustin* brand spent various martial arts tournaments. The battles were also positioned as events for nationalists and took place both in Russian regions, where right-wing fighters came from Europe, and beyond its borders, for example, in Rome. In 2012, the office of the mayor of Moscow provided Kapustin * Wings of the Soviets sports complex for the tournament.
In 2012 Kapustin* spent tournament in Ukraine, co-organized by Arseniy Belodum, the leader of the musical group “Ax of Peruna”, the founder of another themed clothing brand – Svastone. Since 2014, Kapustin * began to live in Moscow, in 2017-2018 he moved to Ukraine. Helping him move was Sergey Korotkikh (known by the nicknames “Malyuta” and “Boatswain”), who in Russia is accused of beheading a native of Dagestan on camera.
In 2019, German authorities revoked Kapustin’s residence permit* and banned him from entering the Schengen area as a person threatening state security. Then, in 2019, the German magazine Spiegel called Kapustin* the central link in the “international network of racists and neo-Nazis” which influences the European far right. To establish links with the neo-Nazis, White Rex tournaments were used, among other things. Thus, the tournament, held in Rome, was organized by Kapustin* with the support of the German neo-fascist organization CasaPound.
At the end of May, the Moscow City Court confirmed the arrest in absentia of Kapustin *, about what he is accused of – in the material of Russian media. You can read about what RDK participants are armed with here.
*included in Russia in the list of persons involved in extremist activities or terrorism
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