An Initial Assessment Of Extremist Volunteers


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CEP Policy Brief: Foreign Fighters In The 2022 Russia-Ukraine War

An Initial Assessment Of Extremist Volunteers

 

(New York, N.Y.) – The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) today published a new
policy brief,Foreign Fighters in the 2022 Russia-Ukraine War: An Initial
Assessment of Extremist Volunteers
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.The brief provides a risk assessment of the potential threats posed by
violence-oriented extremists in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war once they return
to their prior countries of residence/homeland. The brief concludes with policy
recommendations to quickly and comprehensive identify and share knowledge on
this threat as well as disrupt the travel of violence-oriented extremists to
Ukraine.

 

Of the individuals joining the conflict in Ukraine, violence-oriented foreign
extremists represent the smallest fraction of those traveling to take part in
the conflict. Nonetheless, they pose a clear security risk. These extremists
will likely obtain combat experience in the conflict zone and potentially have
a greater impact on the violence-oriented extremist milieus in their home
countries upon their return. Their ability to plan and successfully carry out
attacks in accordance with their ideology increases massively. Further, the
presence of violence-oriented right-wing extremists in Ukraine likely will be
used in misinformation campaigns that attempt to characterize the Ukrainian
government as dominated by right-wing extremist ideologies.

 

As the situation develops, it is ideal to disrupt the travel of these
extremists to the conflict zone. If the travel of violence-oriented extremists
cannot be prevented, then upon their return, specific monitoring mechanisms are
advisable.

 

Amongst other precautions, governments should explore the possibility of
collecting and collating information on violence-oriented extremists that are
at risk of traveling to the conflict zone or are preparing to travel to the
conflict zone. Also, the security and intelligence authorities of the
respective home countries of foreign fighters should establish or intensify
dedicated information exchange frameworks and set up a comprehensive
surveillance strategy that monitors the activities of the foreign fighters in
Ukraine.

 

For more information on the developing situation regarding extremist foreign
fighters in Ukraine as well as CEP’s complete policy recommendations, the brief
Foreign Fighters in the 2022 Russia-Ukraine War: An Initial Assessment of
Extremist Volunteers is available here
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