Last modified: 2024-11-23 by rob raeside
Keywords: paramilitary organizations | wagner group |
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image by Pete Loeser, 30 June 2023
based on this photo located by William Garrison, 10 March 2022 and 24 June 2025.
The black-field flag of "Task Force Rusich" with white logo of the Norse "Valknot" or "knot of the slain", associated with the afterlife, partially surrounded with a white-wreath, an alleged off-the-books "mercenary" unit of the lead pro-Russian "Wagner Group" - active in the pro-Russia Donbas region of
eastern Ukraine, c. 2014 & March 2022. (Source:
https://www.thedailybeast.com)
William Garrison, 10 March 2022
The neo-Nazi Task Force Rusich was accused of committing war crimes in Ukraine during peak fighting between Russian separatist forces and the Ukrainian military in the summer of 2014. It was reportedly still operating in Ukraine as late as 2022.
Pete Loeser, 30 June 2023
image by Pete Loeser and Rob Raeside, 8 July 2023
Based on this photo located by William Garrison, 25 November 2022
A different-looking "Wagner Group" logo centered in the middle of a Russian flag for the Russian "Wagner Group" shown outside "PMC Wagner Centre", which is a project implemented by the businessman and founder of the Wagner private military group: Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of the office block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 4, 2022 - Photo credit: REUTERS/IGOR RUSSAK (source)
William Garrison, 25 November 2022
This is a flag of the North Slavic Community (Северо-Славянская Община) - a Cossack' organization of Sankt-Petersburg and Leningrad region. There are two types of Cossack organizations in Russia:
I will attempt to describe the shield in the center of this Russian tricolored flag. The oval-shaped badge has a large weathered upward facing silver arrowhead ( ↑ ) with a left-upward crossed sword (point at top, handle at bottom) and a right upward slanted mace (head at top). A beaded rope circles them. The surrounding Russian text is О Б Щ И Н А (Community) on top and Северо - славянская (North - Slavic) on the bottom. A white and black circle surrounds the whole.
Pete Loeser, 8 July 2023
image by Pete Loeser,
6 July 2024
Based on this image located by William Garrison, 10 March 2022 and the discussion below
This flag is displayed by Russian mercenaries in Libya (c2019) who are probably affiliated with the "Wagner Group." The top line of flag appears to read: "____(__)URRY CONSULTING COMPANY" and bottom line reads: "_____NOT ANGELS...BUT WE ARE HERE".(source)
William Garrison, 10 March 2022
The flag belongs to the RSB-Group. The text on the flag is "PRIVATE MILITARY CONSULTING COMPANY" and "WE ARE NOT ANGELS, BUT WE ARE HERE."
Zachary Harden, 30 May 2023
Zach is correct. This flag is an "English variant" of the Russian Private Military Company (PMC) called the RSB-Group (Russian Security Systems). In Russian: РСБ-Групп (Российские Системы Безопасности) The origin of the photo this the RSB-Group website on their Mine Clearing page. From there it appears in numerous other places. I add that the RSB Group (Russian Security Systems Group) was established in 2005 and provides military related services such as marine and land operations, technical protection, training and consulting, intelligence and analytics, mine clearance, etc.
Russian Border Guard Flag (1999-2003)
The Border Guard flag image was provided by Kazutaka Nishiura, 23 May 2010
The RSB-Group flag with its horizontal background that features the distinctive design pattern of the Regimental banners and flags of the Imperial Russian Army and Navy and displays a very similar color composition (of red and green stripes) as to that of the Border Troops (formally designated Border Service of the FSB of the Russian Federation) because the RSB Group founder served in that Branch.
For additional information go to the RSB-Group (official website) or Russian Wikipedia: РСБ-Групп (in Russian).
Esteban Rivera, 31 May 2023
Oleg Krinitsyn, owner of the RSB-group, said he sent his "contractors" to eastern Libya in 2019 to do mine clearance work and they were pulled out after having completed their mission. As Esteban explained the flag itself is basically a defaced Russian Federal Frontier Service (or "Border Guard.") flag.
It replaces the Guard's double-eagle symbol with the private company's own "Batman-like" emblem and, in this case, uses English text. Notice that the variant flags use a simplified RSB-Group division emblem from that shown on the RSB-group website.
image by Pete Loeser,
6 July 2024
Based on this photo located by Pete Loeser, 30 June 2023 (source)
Like the Wagner Group, the RSB-Group is another unofficially Russian Federation sanctioned Private Military Consulting Company. They often work under the Wagner umbrella as sub-contractors. The top line of Russian text is
ЧАСТНАЯ КОМПАНИЯ ВОЕННОГО КОНСАЛТИНГА meaning "PRIVATE CONSULTING MILITARY COMPANY." The bottom line is
МЫ НЕ АНГЕЛЫ...НО МЫ ЗДЕСЬ which means "WE ARE NOT ANGELS...BUT WE ARE HERE."
You can clearly see the variant logo used on the flags in this photo.
Sources: 1. Interview with Oleg Krinitsyn, 2. RSB-Group Website, and 3. RSB Group Photo Gallery
Pete Loeser, 30 June 2023
Website Logo
Overland Security
Maritime Security
images located by Pete Loeser, 6 July 2024
One might say that the various logos used on RSB-Group patches and flags are a bit "batty." These were located while searching for photos of their flags and not drawn by me. There was no identification of who the illustrators were, but they did a nice job.
Pete Loeser, 2 July 2024
image by Pete Loeser, 30 June 2023
based on this photo located by William Garrison, 12 March 2022
Source:
https://eurasiantimes.com
(the photo lists this source, but the flag doesn't appear in the article)
William Garrison, 12 March 2022
This flag is clearly derived from the national flag of Ukraine, either by Ukrainian ultra-rightists (which do exist, regardless of Russian propaganda) or by Russian propagandists who wish to attribute such a flag to its alleged users.
Tomislav Todorovic, 12 March 2022
A reverse search using Google images retrieves the very same photo from hundreds of blogs etc... but I have not found any mention of its source. No date either.
The photo is widely used to illustrate the "de-nazification of Ukraine" sought by the Russian invasion.
Ivan Sache, 13 March 2022
images by Pete Loeser and Tomislav Todorovic, 25 June 2023
Based on this photo and this photo located by William Garrison and Esteban Rivera.
The Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) (Русский добровольческий корпус, РДК), was founded in August of 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine to fight against the forces of Vladimir Putin. The group is not a part of the Ukrainian armed forces but a far-right group of fighters, mainly citizens of the Russian Federation who live in Ukraine. They should not be confused with the original Russian Volunteer Corps, or Markov Division, who fought in the Russian Civil War in the years 1917-1920.
The emblem used on their flag is a sword superimposed on a shield charged with a chevron. This resembles the emblem of a Russian neo-Nazi emigrant organization named "Russian Center," which was founded in Kyiv in 2015, whose emblem has the ring instead of the shield, a differently shaped sword and lacks a double border [1]. This, in turn, seems to have been derived from the emblem of an earlier emigrant organization named "White Idea," which was active between two World Wars [1]. It is quite possible that the same people were involved in founding both the Russian Center and the Russian Volunteer Corps.
The photos available online reveal two variants of the flag. Both are shades of blue, one rather dark and one much lighter. Depending on the lighting conditions, the darker blue flag may look almost indistinguishable from black, however, if a source of light is behind the flag, it looks much lighter and transparent.
Sources:
[1] Wikipedia: Russian Volunteer Corps
[2] GOROD SUMY.ua website
[3] 24 Kanal television station website
[4] Liepajniekiem.lv website
[5] BBC Ukraine website
[6] Ukrinform news agency website
[7] Spektr website
[8] Zaborona website
[9] Znaj.UA website
Tomislav Todorovic, 02 July 2023
Additionally, the Russian Volunteer Corps - RVC (Рýсский добровóльческий кóрпус - РДК) has been fighting alongside Ukraine since 2014 and is currently considered to be (operationally speaking) part of the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine (aka Ukrainian Foreign Legion).
The group was established on December 27, the same day as the Russian Liberation Army, only 72 years apart (RVC in 2014 and ROA in 1942).
Their previous flag was a St. Andrews (Saltire) black background and white cross and was used between 2014-2022 when they were embedded as part of Azov Units. They claim a lineage in the continuation of both the Russian Liberation Army as well as both, the Volunteer army (Добровольческая армия) and Markovtsy (Марковцы) derived from General Serguéi Leonidovich Markov, the latter two which were Russian military formations that took part on the 1917 White movement (Добровольческая армия) side during the Russian Civil War (1918-1922), also known as White Russia or Russian White Army, later to be known as the Russian State (officially
Росси́йское госуда́рство) (1918-1922) itself a failed attempt at a continuation of the Russian Empire which finally succumbed to the Bolsheviks and led to the establishment of the Soviet Union (1917-1991).
Sources:
1. Russian Volunteer Corps Website
2. Wikipedia: White Movement
3. Wikipedia: Russian Civil War
4. Wikipedia: Russian Volunteer Army
5. Wikipedia: Russian state (1918-1920)
Esteban Rivera, 30 March 2023
