A band of Russian neo-Nazi mercenaries who sadistically collect enemies' ears are set to be deployed in Ukraine, it has been claimed.
The militia group, called Rusich, has been spotted on the Russian-Ukrainian border near to where Vladimir Putin's forces are expected to launch their next offensive.
The unit is linked to private military company, the Wagner Group, which is backed by the Kremlin and is said to currently have 1,000 soldiers operating in eastern Ukraine.
Rusich was founded nearly a decade ago in St Petersburg by Red Army paratrooper Aleksei Milchakov, 30, and Yan Petrovsky, 33 - after the pair met at a white supremacist event.
It quickly gained notoriety in 2014 during fighting between Moscow-backed separatists and Ukrainian military.
Milchakov has previously posted horrific pictures of himself slicing off the ears of dead soldiers on social media, reports The Times.
On his Vkontakte account he has also shared snaps of him carving the kolovrat, a Slavic far right swastika.
And has previously boasted about being a neo-Nazi and claims he "got high from the smell of burning human flesh".
His account also features a photo of him as a teen cutting off a puppy's head.
Milchakov met co-founder Petrovsky through the Russian Imperial Movement.
Their mercenary group is thought to consist of several hundred soldiers who wear a white supremacist valknut insignia on their uniforms.
Rusich has published a cartoon of a Russian soldier returning home with gifts for his wife and son, covered in blood and stolen from Ukrainians.
The caption reads: “If you are a real man and a Russian, join our ranks.
"You will spill litres of blood from vile Russophobes, and become rich and cool."
Earlier this week, the sadistic mercenary unit was pictured crossing into Kharkiv in military vehicles marked with 'Z'.
Ukrainian defence officials are bracing for a renewed attack in the region.
It comes after invading Moscow forces began pulling out of areas around capital Kyiv, after weeks of failing to occupy the city.
But in doing so they've left behind evidence of alleged atrocities, including the massacre of women and children.
Some members of the Wagner group are thought to have also served with Rusich.
Both organisations share far-right political beliefs and have ties to neo-Nazism, with both fighting side by side in Syria for Bashar al-Assad.
The Wagner Group is thought to have been set up by Russian ex-special forces commander Dmitri Utkin.
A photo understood to be him, shows the commander with a Nazi SS lightning bolt tattoo on his neck.
