The Ukrainian wing of an internationally proscribed terrorist organization with suspected links to Russia is continuing to claim multiple murders in Ukraine, which comes after it was linked to the brazen assassination of an intelligence officer in Kyiv over the summer.
In a Telegram post, the Ukrainian cell of the Base – born in the US, but with a web of cells all over the world – claimed “a successful operation to eliminate an enemy agent in Odesa” in a car bombing, which was later reported on in local Ukrainian media.
“This traitor, whose name we cannot yet disclose in the interests of the investigation, served Ukraine, but his heart was sold to the enemy,” said the post, which was implying the “border service” officer was assisting Russia in the south of the country. “This action is just the beginning.”
Since April of last year, the Base has been offering money to followers and hired assassins to carry out killings of military and government officials in Ukraine, coinciding with allegations that its American founder, Rinaldo Nazzaro, was a Kremlin spy.
Nazzaro did not respond to a request for comment, but has previously maintained he does not control the Ukrainian cell and said last year that it was “not directed by the Russian government”.
The former Pentagon contractor and Department of Homeland Security worker has steadfastly denied allegations of coordinating with Russian intelligence services and its continuing sabotage operations across Europe. Despite that, Nazzaro has been persistently linked to violent cells in Spain – where members of the Base were busted with a cache of weapons late last year – and in Belgium and the Netherlands, among other European countries.
But experts in the counter-terrorism field who are watchers of the terrorist group have long described how the Base’s connections to Russia are not so easily dismissed.
“The assassination claim from the Base’s Ukraine operation shows that they want to be seen as operational, an ongoing threat, and, based on their statement, firmly opposed to the Russian government,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, an extremism analyst at the Counter Extremism Project who has been tracking the group for several years.
“This last point is important because of the strong appearance, while still officially not proven, of the Base and their Ukrainian affiliate to be connected to Russian sabotage operations and have ties to the Russian intelligence services.”
Fisher-Birch pointed out that the Ukrainian cell, for example, had “only publicized harming Ukrainian individuals, buildings, and infrastructure” and not of Russian servicemen invading the country.
Leaked information from a secure chat group used by the Base’s Ukrainian cell was obtained by the Guardian through a former member and paints a disturbing picture.
“This was one of [the Base’s] operations,” said the source, referring to an image of a decapitated male body wearing military fatigues, beside a sport utility vehicle somewhere in Ukraine. “Members of the group tracked an employee of the Kyiv recruitment centre and waited for a moment when he would be alone.”
Other images showed Kalashnikov assault rifles and other weapons, a bound and captured prisoner beside two masked members of the Base, and Base propaganda. All were run through multiple artificial intelligence image detectors and strongly indicated they were human created and not fabrications. The anonymous source, who first contacted the Guardian through its encrypted tipline and provided blurred images of their military credentials, said the group was composed of approximately 20 individuals and is highly dangerous.
“The main core of [the Base] is based in Kyiv,” they said. “I’m 100% sure they have followers in Odesa and Kharkiv too.”
Over the last year, the Base has posted videos and images of burned-out police and military vehicles from inside Ukraine, with at least one image showing an arson at a government building. The Base says it intends to force the under-pressure Ukrainian government to grant it a white ethnostate in the west of the country or face a growing neo-Nazi insurgency.
There are legitimate questions surrounding the Base and its links to Russian sabotage – a top security concern among European spy agencies – and is suspected of being a cog in the Kremlin’s covert operations paying anonymous criminals to carry out terrorist attacks all over the continent and inside Ukraine.
Fisher-Birch reviewed the images and believes them to be serious in nature.
“The images indicate that the group has at least six members in Ukraine, is willing to carry out brutal executions, and is fully embracing the image of neo-Nazism, whether out of genuine ideology or to endorse Russian propaganda talking points,” he said.
