- November 17, 2025
- 1:52 pm
- Video
Sometimes it seems that the world has already seen everything. After ISIS, after the “Wagner” tortures, after Hamas, which turns murder into a show, it’s hard to imagine something even more barbaric. But Russia always finds a way to sink lower. This happened again when the neo-Nazi DSHRG “Rusich” announced a real “contest” on their Telegram channels on November 16, 2025: send photos with executed Ukrainian prisoners of war — and receive cryptocurrency. No emotions, no shame. Only a “game” where death is the prize.
For many residents of Israel, this sounds like a painful parallel. We know what terrorism is not from news feeds. We have seen how murders are turned into media content. We have seen how radical groups try to seize the space of fear to rewrite the rules of humanity. Probably, that’s why this story evokes not only shock in Israel — it evokes that very feeling of internal recognition: here it is, the same type of evil, only in a different form and with a different flag.
Who are DSHRG “Rusich”: a neo-Nazi group created in war and serving the interests of the Kremlin
DSHRG “Rusich” appeared in the Russian far-right underground around 2013–2014, when its future leaders — Aleksey Milchakov and Yanin Petrovsky (Veles) — began recruiting like-minded individuals among Russian neo-Nazis, fan groups, and participants of the “white supremacy movement”. Already in the summer of 2014, after the occupation of Crimea, “Rusich” was deployed to Donbass, where it operated alongside the “Ghost” battalion and other illegal armed formations under the control of Russian curators.
From the very beginning, the group had a dual nature. Formally, they appeared as “volunteers”, but in practice:
received weapons from Russian depots,
worked in conjunction with Russian special services,
were covered by structures associated with the Russian Ministry of Defense,
participated in operations planned by GRU curators.
After 2015, “Rusich” disappeared from the news for almost two years — until 2017–2018, when individual members appeared in Syria as part of Russian proxies. This is an important point: Syria does not allow “amateurism”. They were sent there not on their own, but as part of the Kremlin’s overall policy of using radical militants on peripheral fronts.
When the full-scale war against Ukraine began in February 2022, “Rusich” was once again on the front lines. In March–April 2022, they were recorded in the Luhansk region, later near Izyum, then on the northeastern directions. This is not just a coincidence: “Rusich” appears where the Russian Armed Forces face heavy losses and need tactical “dirty work”.
The group and its leaders are included in the sanctions lists of the EU, USA, and others as a “formation participating in hostilities against Ukraine”.
How “Rusich” interacts with the Russian state: officially they do not exist, but the state uses them
The Russian authorities have always played a double game with radical groups. Formally, the Kremlin distances itself: no official ranks, no Ministry of Defense contracts, no direct “legitimization”. But in fact, “Rusich” is a tool used in cases where the Kremlin needs not soldiers, but scarecrows, provocateurs, and people ready to violate the Geneva Conventions without hesitation.
✔ 1. They are supplied by the Russian army
Despite the lack of “official status”, “Rusich” receives:
armored vehicles,
automatic weapons,
communication,
special equipment,
access to military infrastructure.
This is impossible without the sanction of the command.
✔ 2. They are used in areas where “dirty” work is needed
Among military analysts, there is a persistent opinion: if “Rusich” appears in a direction, it means:
massive clean-ups are expected,
a psychological effect is needed,
methods of terror against prisoners and civilians will be applied.
This is how “Rusich” was used near Luhansk in 2014, and similarly near Izyum in 2022.
✔ 3. They are protected from justice
No participant of “Rusich”:
has been arrested,
has been interrogated,
is the subject of an investigation in Russia,
has been recognized as an extremist.
Even though they publicly display Nazi symbols, admit to executing prisoners, and film abuses on camera.
This is a direct indicator of political cover.
✔ 4. They are “removed from the radar” when it becomes too noisy
After scandals:
in 2015, when the group was accused of torture,
in 2022, after being recorded participating in executions of prisoners,
in 2023, when the US imposed sanctions against them,
in 2024, when investigations linked them to GRU operatives,
“Rusich” temporarily disappeared from the public field — but never from the army.
✔ 5. They have become part of the Kremlin’s unofficial toolkit
Russia systematically uses such groups as:
a tool of pressure,
a channel for “uncontrolled” operations,
carriers of an ideology of violence beneficial for mobilizing the “Z-audience”.
This is the same scheme as with:
“Wagnerites”,
Syrian militants,
Chechen combat units.
The state pretends they do not exist while quietly using them.
Why this is important for understanding today’s Russia
DSHRG “Rusich” is not an exception and not an exotic case.
It is a reflection of what modern Russian military policy has become:
radicalization,
neo-Nazi elements,
reliance on terror,
complete absence of rules,
willingness to use criminals as a tool of the state.
It is in this system that announcements of “contests” with killed prisoners appear.
It is such a system that makes any negotiations impossible.
It is such a system that Ukraine holds back in the east, and Israel — in the Middle East, facing its partners: Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah.
What really happened
DSHRG “Rusich” is not just a unit. It is a cult. A cult of cruelty, where murder is not a means, but a goal. In the announcement they posted online, everything is extremely straightforward: the first three who send a photo against the background of “zeroed prisoners” will receive a reward. Anonymity is guaranteed. Publication is mandatory.
On one of the channels, they even posted an “example” — a photo with the bodies of killed people. Not on the battlefield. Not in the chaos of an attack. But organized, shamefully, as if it were a commercial shoot. And this is the most important thing: it’s not about war, but about demonstrative sadism.
At the same time, “Rusich” published another photo — a group of armed people in an autumn forest with the caption “Leningrad region, autumn 2025”. The hint is transparent: supposedly, we “work” far from Ukraine. In reality, this is an old trick — an attempt to show that they are unreachable, hidden, calm. But the experience of recent years shows that such attempts usually appear when they start to be afraid.
Who is behind this
The leader of “Rusich” is Milchakov. A person whom even Russian Z-bloggers have long stopped taking seriously. He is called a marginal, “cringe”, someone who tries to attract attention through sadistic antics. This is the same person whose childhood past is described through animal abuse. The one who later ended up under the wing of Chechen commanders and became an obedient executor — a pawn allowed everything except one thing: to show weakness in public.
But the weakness still broke through. A recent video where he barely holds back tears next to Apti Alaudinov became a meme even in Z-communities. And since then, every appearance of his is an attempt to compensate for the shame with a new dose of cruelty. The “contest” for photos with executed prisoners is from the same series.
Why this is important specifically for Israelis
There are moments when geography ceases to matter. When you look at this “contest”, it is impossible not to draw parallels. Israel knows terrorism by smell, by sound, by the chill that runs down the spine when you realize: someone is turning murder into a game. ISIS did this by filming executions in stylized settings. Hamas turned the massacre of October 7 into video content. Russia is following the same path — only in its propaganda, it does it also humorously, crudely, with that Russian brutality that often hides behind the word “victory”.
But the essence is the same: when death becomes content, the degradation of society begins.
And this is important for Israel not only morally. Russia has long-standing ties with Middle Eastern radical groups. It supports Hamas diplomatically, Iran technologically, Hezbollah politically. Russia trained Syrian forces, helped military structures that later used the experience in acts of terror. The key mechanism here is the same: violence as a show, as a demonstration of strength. And “Rusich” is just part of this system.
Ukraine and Israel: one threat — different fronts
What “Rusich” does is not an internal Russian issue. It is a symptom. A symptom of a society where terror has become the norm, and where humanity is a weakness. Ukraine faces this daily. Israel — regularly, on different borders, through different groups.
This war is not only about territories. It is a war about civilizational norms. Ukraine protects Europe from what Israel protects its south and north: from people who enjoy killing. Not in a figurative sense — literally enjoy it.
When a terrorist films a murder and posts it online — he destroys the boundaries between war and show. When “Rusich” announces a contest — they do the same thing, only with a Russian accent.
Why they do it at all
There are several reasons.
1. Fear
When data, location, or plans about the group begin to be published, they try to “cover their tracks” by posting photos from other regions.
2. Internal crisis
Russian society has become so accustomed to violence that it already needs to be increased in doses. Propaganda needs new shocks, new horrors, new “heroes”.
3. Struggle for attention
Marginal groups live by views. In a world where even cruelty competes with memes, they have to come up with new ways to attract attention.
4. Sadism as ideology
“Rusich” has no ideology other than radical ultraviolence. It is their language, their brand, their product.
🇮🇱 What we should do with this in Israel
Do not ignore. Do not treat it as “something distant”. Israel is used to understanding the strength of the enemy, but sometimes it is important to understand its nature. And the nature of “Rusich” is the nature of Hamas, the “Islamic State”, Hezbollah, and other terrorist structures that use the same set of tools:
death,
publicity,
fear,
distorted idea of “heroism”.
When Russia publicly turns the execution of prisoners into a competition — it is not just a terrible news. It is a signal. A signal that Russia does not control its radical formations. That Russia is ready to use any methods — in Ukraine, in Syria, in the Middle East. And that such groups can become a tool of influence far beyond the front.
Main idea
Ukraine today faces the same type of evil that Israel has faced for decades.
The difference is only in geography. Not in essence.
Therefore, such stories are important to know. Important to understand. And important to articulate. Because evil that turns murder into a prank never remains local. It seeks new regions, new audiences, new ways to become “visible”.
NAnews Israel News Nikk.Agency
