A leading Russian nazi, with links to the far right in the UK, was killed on Xmas Day in a Russian drone attack while fighting for Ukraine.

Denis Nikitin, aka Denis Kapustin aka “White Rex”, was killed on the Zaporizhzhia front, marking the end of a career that fused violent neo-nazi activism, combat entrepreneurship, and a flair for self‑mythology.

Links to UK far right

For more than a decade Kapustin, represented one of the most visible connectors in the international far‑right militant scene.

And he had important links to the far right in the UK, links which have been exposed in Searchlight over the last decade.

Born in Moscow in 1984, Kapustin emerged in the 2010s as a key figure in the European neo‑Nazi fight‑sport circuit.

His events, often held in Germany after his relocation to Cologne, became a meeting ground for groups seeking both ideological validation and paramilitary skills.

Transnational logistics

By the mid‑2010s, Kapustin held a central role in far‑right transnational logistics: arranging travel, facilitating introductions between violent groups, and cultivating a reputation as a man who could move people, money, and matériel across borders.

Searchlight first exposed his UK activities in 2014, documenting how he used his White Rex fight‑sport brand as a gateway into British fascist circles.

In the same year we revealed that he attended at least two far-right training camps in the UK, in Wales and the West Country. We reported at the time that guns were present and on show. There was training in knife fighting, how to take out sentries and how to provoke riots.

Camp organiser

Organising the camps was a former National Front and British National Party activist, Larry Nunn. Among those present were members of the right-wing Iona London Forum and the Traditional Britain Group, though there is no evidence that these organisations knew that some of their members were attending.

Nikitin also used his trip to build contacts in the UK. He spoke at a meeting of Iona and linked up with Arkadiusz Rzepinski, the UK leader of a far-right Polish group, the NOP (National Rebirth of Poland).

Nikitin’s activities in Europe led, in 2019, to a 10-year ban on him entering to the Schengen zone of the European Union.

Our investigations showed that Kapustin was not merely a visiting trainer but a key link to wider European networks. The White Rex brand functioned as an international badge of affiliation, and British supporters used it to signal their alignment with a harder, more militant strain of neo‑Nazi politics.

Cross-border raids

The formation of the Russian Volunteer Corps in 2022, an armed unit of Russian far‑right exiles fighting for Ukraine, gave Kapustin his most prominent platform yet. As co‑founder and commander, he led cross‑border raids into Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk regions, operations that brought him global media attention and further cemented his image as a militant anti‑Kremlin ultranationalist.

Russian authorities designated him a terrorist and extremist, opening multiple criminal cases against him.

According to the Russian Volunteer Corps, Kapustin was killed during a nighttime combat mission when his position was struck by a Russian FPV drone. The group has vowed retaliation, promising that “your legacy lives on”.