Kraken Regiment
- See also: Pravy Sektor
The Kraken Regiment is a volunteer unit formed on February 24, 2022 by veterans of the Azov Battalion. The Kraken Regiment is a Special Forces unit under the command of the Main Directorate for (Military) Intelligence (GUR) headed by Kirill Budanov. The Kraken regiment is based in the north-east section of Kharkiv. This unit is not part of the Ukrainian army but is directly commanded by the GUR. The so-called Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) is part of the neo-Nazi Kraken unit.
The founder is Konstantin Nemichev, a member of the National Corps and combat veteran of the Azov Battalion. The Kraken unit are particularly well known for openly conducting safaris for Russian speaking civilians in the Kharkiv region. The Kraken unit has also been accused of mistreating Russian prisoners of war. Kraken is not officially part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On June 16, 2022 Russian forces destroyed the headquarters of the neo-Nazi Kraken unit in the Kharkiv region.[2]
On June 29, 2022 Russian artillery destroyed up to 100 militants of the Nazi Kraken formation and about 10 units of military in the Kharkiv region.
North of Kharkiv, the Russian MOD reported that the feared Ukrainian neo-Nazi Kraken forces, which function as political commissars on the front, executed 100 members of the Ukrainian 58th motorized infantry brigade who refused to fight.[3]
On May 25, 2023 Kraken units were reported to have been sent as reinforcements to NATO/Ukrainian incursion into the Belgorod oblast of the Russian Federation.[4]
New Year's 2024 attack
On December 29, 2023 Ukraine attacked the city of Belgorod in the Russian Federation (there were other attacks reported on January 2, 2024 and an attack on the city of Donetsk, again aimed at civilians) killing at least 24 in Belgorod, including four children, and wounding 131, including 18 children. All the victims were civilians engaged in holiday shopping and festivities and there is no evidence that any of the Ukrainian targets were, even marginally, military. No Russian soldiers were killed.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the rockets used illegal cluster munitions, prohibited by international conventions. The Biden regime previously supplied 155mm Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM), which are cluster munitions rounds, mostly because the US ran out of conventional 155mm rounds.
The Russians asked for an emergency UN Security Council Meeting, alleging that the Ukrainian attacks were aimed only at civilians and that cluster munitions were used. Russia's UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said the Belgorod targets included an ice rink, sports center and a university. Russia also blamed the Czechs for supplying RM-70 Vampire multiple rocket launchers that were used in the attack, paired with Ukrainian Olkha (Vilkha) rocket launchers that fire 300mm rockets.
On January 2, 2024 TASS reported that Russia shot down 17 Olkha rockets in the Belgorod region. According to the Russians, the attack on Belgorod was carried out directly under orders from Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr Zelensky. The operation was launched by the Kraken regiment. The Kraken field commander responsible for the Belgorod operation, according to the Russians, was Sergey Velichko. Velichko previously served in the Azov brigade, regarded by many as a neo-Nazi and antisemitic outfit known for its ruthlessness.
References
External link
- Monitoring discriminatory signs and symbols in European football. farenet.org
- Kraken Nazi Is Captured Alive, Sep 14, 2023
