Far-right group with links to neo-Nazi leader offers online military training | The far right
In the underworld of booster neo-Nazis, where attacks on Western governments are common, the spread of illicit weapons manuals and commercial skills related to drone warfare is accelerating. Experts say that in some cases, courses were taught online with the participation of the leadership of banned terrorist groups with links to Russian intelligence.
Officials on both sides of the Atlantic are warning that the availability of drone technologies and far-right military veterans with the skills to use them pose a serious national security threat.
“The provision of military-style training materials to the far right, including drone trade, suggests this is preparatory,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a terrorism analyst with nearly a decade of experience tracking militant movements. “[To] Developing the capacity of extremist networks to commit violence or, in particular, encouraging acts of violence.”
Fisher-Birch says a well-connected and dangerous network called the Observation Group emerged with a following among internationalist neo-Nazis and promoted itself as “a paramilitary project to prepare people for modern warfare.”
Part of its operations so far has included promoting militant course materials through closed chat groups.
But the group boasts on its public Telegram channel of its online “military course,” which it says “covers basic command training and for those without military experience, this course will cover the basics of preparing soldiers” and can be purchased using a cryptocurrency wallet it uses to fundraise.
The Observation Group continues: “You will get the latest information about drones […] NATO and [war] doctrines, techniques for waging war on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict […] integration of modern communications technologies and military concepts of the armies of the future.”
The leader of the network told the Guardian that “I am in Russia” but that “its units are autonomous and located in different countries”. Its posts are in English and Russian, making it clear that it is not an American-based group, but says it is allied with the leader of the Base, an internationally designated neo-Nazi terrorist group originating in the United States that is accused of being a Kremlin spy.
“Good news: Norman Spear (leader of the paramilitary group ‘The Base’ and a former FBI analyst) is participating in the development of the first course as a military strategist,” he said in a post, referring to Rinaldo Nazzaro and one of the aliases he used to hide his legal name.
Over the summer, former members of his group criticized Nazzaro as an agent of Russian intelligence services – a charge Nazzaro repeatedly denied – and the Base’s Ukraine cell claimed responsibility for the assassination of an intelligence officer in Kiev in July.
Fisher-Birch explained: “Given Nazaro’s possible connection to Russian intelligence services or similar organisations, this further suggests that: [Observations Group] The project is potentially similarly linked”.
Reached via Telegram, Nazzaro did not deny his connections to the group.
“The base has its own organic European network,” he said. “But we are always open to collaboration with like-minded groups who recognize the power that comes from unity.”
Base, recently Added to the European Union’s terrorist listIt is expanding aggressively on the continent, along with a rise in Russian sabotage operations that rely heavily on online recruitment of operators (often via Telegram).
Observations Group initially planned its course as an in-person training camp in the Czech Republic, but converted it to an online seminar, which it is “already live”. The group announced new partnerships with an unnamed American extremist group and that “in the future, our project will be able to officially conduct exercises and training sessions in the United States.”
“This definitely benefits the Russian government,” Fisher-Birch said.
Lucas Webber, senior threat intelligence analyst at Tech Against Terrorism, says the group and its connections to real-world actors like Base indicate it is part of an “immediate danger” from the far-right.
“Extremist groups learning from foreign war zones pose a dangerous proliferation threat by channeling their battlefield experiences into local or transnational contexts,” he said, noting that cryptocurrency use is another alarm bell.
“Reliance on cryptocurrency for fees and circulating combat manuals masks the group’s financial operations and strategic plans, making detection and disruption more difficult for law enforcement.”
Multiple national security sources have previously told the Guardian that the FBI has major concerns about terrorist organizations using easily purchased, first-person view drones for domestic attacks in the US. From Mexican drug cartels to the Islamic State, drones are being incorporated into paramilitary strategies around the world.
Evidence has already emerged that military-trained neo-Nazis in the US have begun advising others in the movement with relevant drone skills. An author, allegedly a former Marine, owns a Substack popular with extremists and claims to be a former member of the now-defunct Atomwaffen Division – another ultra-violent, banned terrorist group aligned with the Base and linked to murders in the US.
“I am a drone operator, one of the first in the infantry,” the anonymous author wrote. “The future is in cheap, 3D printed drones [high-explosive] round zipper attached to it.
Webber believes accelerators on the far right, who see acts of terrorism as a way to create a domino effect that will topple world governments, are already using drones in potential operations.
“Preventing the transition from virtual coordination to concrete violence requires determination to dismantle key digital channels that facilitate both the monitoring of illicit financial flows and recruitment and training,” he said.
“Failure to intervene could allow these battlefield-inspired tactics to spread further, potentially leading to high-impact attacks against civilian or government targets.”
