Russian Neo-Nazi ‘Task Force Rusich,’ Affiliated With The Wagner Group, Raises Funds Via Cryptocurrency

On July 1, 2022, the Telegram channel of Task Force Rusich, a Wagner Group-affiliated militia currently fighting in Ukraine – which reports on the operations of the “Diversion and Assault Reconnaissance Group,” headed by Russian neo-Nazi Alexei Milchakov, in the war in Ukraine – published a post announcing that while the group was fundraising for military equipment, its Binance account was blocked. According to the screenshot included in the post, which shows a chat with the manager of Binance, the account was blocked because of an ongoing investigation by Ukrainian authorities.

Binance’s manager advises a Rusich member to approach Ukrainian authorities for more information. The Rusich member replies, “Are you kidding? What is Ukraine?”

The post strongly condemns the actions of Binance, complaining that for two months there was no information regarding the blocking of the account. However, it states that all funds were successfully transferred before the account was blocked.

The post reads: “Such a policy completely discredited Binance and its management. I recommend that Russian people not use the Binance crypto-exchange services in order to avoid the loss of funds at the whim of the pro-khokhol [a derogatory term  for Ukrainians] management,” reads the post.

In addition, the channel advises users not to store assets in crypto-exchange accounts, but instead to use hardware wallets. The post contains a link to a Google Docs document titled “Cryptocurrency Aid For Donbass And Russian Warriors,” which is a step-by-step guide to buying, storing, and transferring cryptocurrency. Among other things, the document urges users to transfer assets in the Tether cryptocurrency, or if it is not available, in USDC and BUSD. The document recommends using the Trust Wallet app for storing cryptocurrency and the BestChange service for exchanging cryptocurrency and e-money.