The report challenges misconceptions about the size and composition of foreign fighters to Ukraine, estimating that perhaps 2,000 foreign fighters have fought in the country—far less than the figure of 20,000—and that only small group of far-right individuals are amongst the foreign fighters active in Ukraine.
Based on the learnings from dealing with returned western foreign terrorist fighters who had joined ISIS and other terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq, EU member states should start preparations to ensure an individualized, comprehensive, and multi-professional case management of returning foreign fighters when they leave for the conflict zone, not just when they return.
The Russia-Ukraine war has been attracting foreign fighters/volunteers since 2014. Initially, the number of foreign individuals joining the conflict was limited. However, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022 provided a seemingly seismic shift in this field with up to 20,000 foreigners expressing an interest in joining the Ukrainian war effort.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, reanimated recruitment activities and individual motivations for foreign volunteers to travel to the war zone.Although by far the smallest number of volunteers traveling to Ukraine, foreign violence-oriented extremists traveling to Ukraine represent clear security risks.
The brief provides a risk assessment of the potential threats posed by violence-oriented extremists in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war once they return to their prior countries of residence/homeland. The brief concludes with policy recommendations to quickly and comprehensive identify and share knowledge on this threat as well as disrupt the travel of violence-oriented extremists to Ukraine.
A few hundred Western individuals with extreme right wing (XRW) or “nationalist” convictions travelled to fight in the conflict in Ukraine. Many had known each other from before the war.
Central-Eastern Europe (CEE) host a variety of paramilitary organisations. Some of these consider themselves anti-systemic, i.e. anti-democratic, anti-liberal, nativist, authoritarian and also, at times, pan-Slavic or pro-Russian (apart from the Ukrainian case).
This webinar aimed to bridge this knowledge gap concerning the travel logistics underpinning the flow of foreign recruits and provides a comparative perspective while looking at the same issues for three sets of foreign (terrorist) fighters: extreme Islamist terrorist foreign fighters, extreme right-wing (heading to Ukraine), and extreme left-wing (heading to Syria) foreign fighters.
In this first English-language book on the Azov movement, journalist and researcher Michael Colborne explains how Azov came to be and how it continues to exploit Ukraine’s fractured social and political situation—including the only ongoing war on European soil—to build one of the most ambitious and dangerous far-right movements in the world.
The Russian Imperial Movement (RIM) is a neo-Nazi, monarchist, white supremacist group operating out of Russia with supporters around the world.
On February 24, 2022, Russia deployed its military into Ukraine, displacing more than 160,000 people and leaving more than 520,000 to flee across borders into neighboring European countries.
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Fact:
On March 30, 2020, an al-Shabaab suicide bomber mounted the vehicle of Abdisalan Hasan Hersi, a governor in Somalia’s Puntland, as he parked his car near a police station. The jihadist detonated his explosive device, killing Hersi and seriously wounding a former police commander and a civilian.
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