[16][17][18] According to the Ukrainian news agency Glavcom, the RVC was formed by Russian volunteers who had started fighting for Ukraine in the Azov Regiment and other units in 2014.

[20] The RVC says it is made up of ethnic Russians fighting to defend Ukraine against Russia's invasion and to overthrow the government of Vladimir Putin.

[4][20][22] According to official RVC statement, their flag is ideological fusion of Victor Larionov's organizations - a person "from whose ideas, principles and beliefs we build off of, drawing parallels of historical and political continuity".

[23] After Socialist coalition came to power in France in 1938, Larionov, among others was deported to Germany, where he became an employee of Novoe Slovo [de], a pro-Nazi newspaper published by Russian émigrés in Berlin between 1933 and 1944.

During the "Great Patriotic War" he worked for Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories and was a member of the Russian Liberation Army.

[26] However, Kapustin's clothing brand features the Black Sun[4] and "88" symbols favoured by Nazis and neo-Nazis,[27] as well as phrases such as "SS for Sweet 'n' sexy".

[28] The group gathers its forces through recruiting anti-Putin activists with civilian backgrounds and then coordinates with various political factions that move individuals across borders.

[31]According to Ilya Ponomarev, the RVC took part in a press conference on 31 August 2022 with the Freedom of Russia Legion and the National Republican Army when they signed a joint declaration.

[32][33] In October 2022, the RVC published its manifesto, identifying itself as "part of Ukraine's Armed Forces", although Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment.

[3] Ilya Ponomarev, political representative of the Freedom of Russia Legion, said the RVC has contacts with the Ukrainian military but operates in a "gray area".

[35] On 2 March 2023, the Russian authorities claimed that an armed Ukrainian group crossed the border and carried out a "terrorist attack" in the villages of Lyubechane and Sushany, in Bryansk Oblast.

Denis 'White Rex' [clarification needed] said they were satisfied with the raid, saying they had seized weapons, an armoured personnel carrier, and taken prisoners before leaving Russian territory after 24 hours.