| National Socialism / White Power Crew | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as |
|
| Leader | Andrey Pronsky (Подпись Неразборчиваlit. 'Signature illegible')[1] |
| Dates of operation | 2004–present |
| Country | Russia |
| Allegiance | Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists,National Socialist Society, |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right[2] |
| Notable attacks | |
| Allies |  Format18 National Socialist Society[1] |
| Opponents |  Government of Russia |
| Battles and wars | 2022 Belarusian and Russian partisan movement (allegedly, according to Russian authorities) |
| Designated as a terrorist group by | Russia |
| Flag |   |
| Website | ns-wp.ws (banned and defunct)[4] |
National Socialism / White Power Crew (NS/WP Crew, also known asSparrows Crew),[5] is aNeo-Naziextremist group operating in Russia. In 2021, it was designated by theSupreme Court of Russia as aterrorist organization.[6]
According toMediazona, many unrelated Nazi groups used the NS/WP abbreviation in the 2000s.[1]
In 2010, two NS/WP members were charged with the murder of a 25-year-oldGhanaian citizen, Solomon Attengo Gwa-jio who was stabbed over 20 times on 25 December 2009 inSaint Petersburg.[7][8][9]
In 2014, nine members of this organization, aged 17 to 24, were sentenced to 4–9 years in prison for a series of murders, attacks and robberies, as well as committing other crimes motivated by ethnic hatred.[4] Members of the organization recorded one of the murders on camera and posted it on the Internet. In addition, they set fire to a car with two homeless people sleeping in it and carried out several more attacks on foreigners and people leading an asocial lifestyle, according to the prosecution. Members of the group were also found guilty of setting fire to a temple, a construction crane, and blowing up a public transport stop using a makeshift device. The last crime was regarded as a terrorist attack.[10][11]
On 21 May 2021, the movement was recognized as a terrorist organization by the authorities of the Russian Federation and banned.[6][10][12][13][11]
Some Russian media claim that NS/WP Crew are also involved in thearson of military enlistment offices, which began after the announcement ofmobilization in Russia.[14][15][unreliable source?]
On 25 April 2022, theFederal Security Service announced the arrest of a group of members of an organization that was making preparations to attempt the assassination of pro-government journalistVladimir Solovyov.[16][17] According to the FSB, the assassination was prepared by order of theSecurity Service of Ukraine.[18] During the searches, the suspects were found and seized with an improvised explosive device, incendiary devices likeMolotov cocktails, pistols, a sawed-off hunting rifle, a grenade, cartridges, drugs and forged Ukrainian passports. In addition, nationalist literature and paraphernalia were found.[19][20][21] Among the detainees was also one of the leaders of NS/WP Andrey Pronsky, who in 2013, on behalf of NS/WP, committed the murder of a Jewish person, for which he was sent for compulsory treatment.[22]
A day earlier, Russian President Putin announced that the FSB had stopped an attempted assassination of an unnamed Russian journalist.
In June, a sixth defendant was arrested in the case of plotting Solovyov's assassination.[23] However, the legitimacy of this plot has been questioned.[24]
On 25 July 2024, the group published a video-manifesto of a "Ukrainian autonomous revolutionary racist" who committed the murder of the Ukrainian linguist and nationalist politicianIryna Farion, including the moment when she was shot.[25] The manifesto claimed that the motive behind the murder was that Farion promoted language-based hatred among ethnic Ukrainians, undermining the racial aspect of the Ukrainian nation and thus being a "race traitor".[26]
NS/WP whose agenda is anti-drug.
