The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has put Ilya Bogdanov, a former FSB officer and representative of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RCC), on the wanted list. State news agencies call him one of the possible participants in the March 2 attack in the Bryansk region. In 2014, Bogdanov fought on the side of the Right Sector* in the Donbass. What do we know about the Russian who crossed over to the side of Ukraine, says The Eastern Herald.
From the search card in the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs it turns out that according to a certain article of the Criminal Code, Bogdanov Ilya Alexandrovich, born on August 2, 1988 in Vladivostok, is wanted. The article sought is not specified.
RIA News calls Bogdanov as an “alleged participant” in sabotage in the Bryansk region. At the same time, it is not known with certainty whether he participated in the attack: the man does not appear in the images of the scene published by the RDK. RDK commander Denis Nikitin, known as White Rex, told the Financial Times that 45 people took part in the sortie in the Bryansk region.
Sergei Bobylev / TASS
Moreover, Bogdanov himself, in an interview with Vot Tak published on February 8 – that is, almost a month before the events in the Bryansk region – said that one of the objectives of the Russian Volunteer Corps was to “create in the Bryansk region and border areas a buffer zone like the Donbass. “I think I will go there to work,” Bogdanov noted then.
Whether Bogdanov was put on the wanted list before the DRC attack on the Bryansk region or after, the Interior Ministry’s research base also does not specify.
Also, Ilya Bogdanov was included in scroll terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring.
Who is Ilya Bogdanov
As the PrimaMedia portal wrote, Bogdanov is a former employee of the FSB border service in the Primorsky Territory. In an interview with the Ukrainian “Apostrophe”, he said that from 2010 to 2013 he took part in the anti-terrorist operation in Dagestan.
In July 2014, after the events of Euromaidan and the beginning of the military conflict in the Donbass, Bogdanov came to Kiev and volunteered in one of the Ukrainian units that took part in the hostilities on the side of Kiev, writes Radio Liberty** . At the same time, the publication called the former FSB officer a follower of right-wing views.
RT telegram channel
BBC material noted that initially Bogdanov fought in the ranks of the volunteer battalion “Donbass”, in which he helped to eliminate Ukrainian fighters during the exit from Ilovaisk, and then joined the Ukrainian Corps volunteers (DUK) “Right Sector ”*. According to Radio Liberty**, the man also took part in the fighting for Donetsk airport.
Bogdanov appeared several times in reports on Ukrainian television. In conversations with journalists, he claimed that the first criminal cases in Russia against him were opened in 2014 – in particular, under the article on treason. By data Russia Today also filed a desertion complaint against him.
In 2015, then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko granted Bogdanov Ukrainian citizenship. According to the former FSB officer, assassination attempts have been organized against him on several occasions in Ukraine on behalf of the Russian authorities. Also, he said that in 2016 they tried to kidnap him and take him to Russia.
In 2017, Bogdanov went into business and opened a Korean cuisine restaurant Pyan-se in Kiev, Weekend wrote. He explained his activities by the fact that “he has distanced himself from everything” and “there is no more extremism” and “nationalism” in his actions.
Judging by Bogdanov’s Instagram account (belonging to Meta***), after the start of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, he began to participate in hostilities on the side of Kiev. As Bogdanov himself wrote, in particular, he took part in clashes near Gostomel and Irpin in the Kiev region.
Later, Bogdanov began to appear in joint ventures with the fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps, and also published his full-face photos, where the RDK chevron is visible on his uniform. In December 2022, Radio Liberty ** published a report about the RDK operation on the island of Zmeiny, in which Bogdanov was named a member of this unit.
Vot Tak writes that Bogdanov joined the Russian volunteer corps in January 2023. As the newspaper notes, as part of the training he “mainly deals with rear issues, but if necessary goes to the front.”
Attack in the Bryansk region
On the morning of March 2, authorities in the Bryansk region reported that Ukrainian saboteurs had infiltrated the border villages of Sushany and Lyubechany. Subsequently, the “Russian Volunteer Corps”, a unit made up of Russians participating in the fighting in Ukraine alongside Kiev, took responsibility for what happened. The attack killed two civilians and injured a 10-year-old boy, according to local authorities.
Sergei Bobylev / TASS
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the incident in the Bryansk region a “terrorist attack”. The investigative commission opened a criminal investigation under the articles on the terrorist attack, the endangerment of the life of law enforcement officers and the destruction of property (articles 205, 317, 167 of the criminal code) .
Ukrainian authorities deny their connection to the attack in the Bryansk region. At the same time, according to the commander of the “Russian Volunteer Corps” Denis Nikitin, the exit to the Russian region was agreed with the Ukrainian leadership. The RDK also claims that it did not open fire on civilians, but fought only with security forces.
* Terrorist organization banned in Russia
** registered by the Ministry of Justice of Russia in the register of foreign agents
*** Meta’s activities in the implementation of Facebook and Instagram in Russia are recognized as extremist and prohibited
