Militants of Núcleo Nacional, the neo-Nazi group hit last week after 14 arrests, received paramilitary training in Ukraine last August, according to the summary accessed by EL PAÍS and which is part of the investigation being carried out by the Instruction Court number 1 of Gijón.
According to judicial documentation, active affiliates of Núcleo Nacional traveled to Ukraine, where they maintained contact with the 12th Azov Special Forces Brigade, a unit formed in 2014, during the Donbas war, and which belongs to the National Guard. During that trip, the militants participated in paramilitary training with bulletproof vests and AK-47 rifles.
One of them, Rafael B., appears in a video on the ground wearing the black sweatshirt of Núcleo, while Aitor R. appears in another image with a bulletproof vest, an assault rifle, and a Nazi flag patch. In the photographs and recordings, the neo-Nazis of the organization also display black sweatshirts with the slogan Storm Front, the most important racial hate forum on the internet and a breeding ground for supremacism.
Unlicensed weapons and a plan for an “armed uprising”
The summary also states that members of the organization handled pistols and rifles without having a license, and that they planned an “armed uprising”, extremes that are part of the judicial investigation opened in Gijón. Investigators are analyzing the scope of these activities, as well as the role played by the different affiliates in the trips and training recorded in Ukraine.
Sirens, drones and messages from a war-torn village
Investigators believe that the young ultras were in Kyiv, in another town located 20 kilometers from the Russian border, and that they also stayed in a military camp. In one of the calls that a member of Núcleo Nacional makes to his wife, on August 28, sirens warning of imminent bombs and drone attacks can be heard in the background.
In that conversation, the militant assures that he is in a place “better” than the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv (1.4 million inhabitants), where he was before, and adds: “All this is being very interesting”. He then specifies: “The village where we are is very war-torn, all destroyed and full of soldiers”.
The National Police requested early arrest
The National Police asked the instruction court 1 of Gijón to advance the arrests of the members of the neo-Nazi party due to their intentions to demonstrate in the Plaza de España last November 7. According to the authorities, possible altercations were contemplated in the demonstrations against anti-fascist groups.
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