MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/. Law enforcement officers in Moscow have detained a man with links to the banned neo-Nazi organization Azov for trying to persuade Russian service members to jump ship to the Ukranian side, the regional branch of the Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement.
"A Moscow resident born in 1993 has been detained for involvement in the activities of a Ukrainian paramilitary nationalist group designated as terrorist in Russia. Search and investigation operations made it clear that prior to the launch of Russia’s special military operation, the Russian citizen, who holds neo-Nazi beliefs, had traveled to Ukraine several times, where he established contact with a unit commander within the Azov Battalion and later joined its ranks. Since the start of the special military operation, the suspect, acting upon orders from his handlers, has been using social media to message Russian service members taking part in the operation, trying to persuade them to defect to the enemy," the statement reads.