Russian neo-Nazi leader Denis Kapustin killed in Ukraine

Russian Volunteer Corps members during a press conference on 24 May 2023. Kapustin in the front in a black uniform -- https://armyinform.com.ua/army-authors/oksana-ivanecz/, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Various Sources

Denis Kapustin, the prominent Russian neo-Nazi leader and commander of the so-called Russian Volunteer Corps, was killed by a Russian drone strike in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Oblast on December 27, 2025.

Denis Kapustin, also known as Denis Nikitin or by his nickname "White Rex," was born in Moscow in 1984. His family moved to Germany in 2001, where he became deeply involved in far-right and neo-Nazi militant circles. Kapustin was a prominent figure in European far-right activism, known for organizing mixed martial arts events that attracted extremists across Europe and for running the clothing brand White Rex associated with neo-Nazi symbolism.

Kapustin moved to Ukraine in 2017 and became involved with far-right paramilitary groups such as the Azov Battalion before founding the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) in 2022. The RVC, composed mainly of ethnic Russians fighting on Ukraine’s side, is a far-right white-nationalist militia group aiming to fight against the Russian government. Kapustin and the RVC gained notoriety for cross-border raids into Russian territories like Bryansk and Belgorod Oblasts. Kapustin was designated a terrorist and extremist by Russian authorities and sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for charges including treason and terrorism.

As Susann Witt-Stahl reported in The Left Chapter in March 2025:

Founded in 2022, the RDK is currently considered one of the most dangerous neo-Nazi organizations in the world, thanks to the support of the Zelensky government, Germany and other NATO countries: “We receive a salary, official documents and veteran status. We also have Western weapons, the best models,” Kapustin boasted last year, claiming that the delivery of two Leopard tanks was already in the offing.

RDK sees itself in the tradition of the Russian Vlasov Army, which fought for Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Some members even wear the troop markings of the notorious SS special unit “Dirlewanger” [4] on their uniforms. The more German continuities emerge, the more resolutely they are denied. From the ARD television network’s “Tagesschau” newscast to the daily Berliner Zeitung — for the German mainstream media, there was no RDK bloc at the demonstration, only “human rights activists” and members of the "Russian opposition.” And from bellicose politicians representing a “fortified democracy ["wehrhafte Demokratie"] and a civil society readied for war — as well as the Autonomous Antifa, whose message, signalled by its absence, was: “Nix da, nothing to see - Alerta, Antifascista!” — there were no protests against this gruesome Nazi spectacle.

Denis Kapustin was killed on December 27, 2025, by an FPV (first-person view) drone strike during a combat mission in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia front. His death was confirmed by the RVC.