Russian Volunteer Corps founder Denis Kapustin killed on Zaporizhzhia front / The New Voice of Ukraine

Denis Kapustin, also known by the call sign WhiteRex, the commander and founder of the Russian Volunteer Corps(RDK), was killed while carrying out a combat mission on the Zaporizhzhia front, the group said in a statement. The incident occurred overnight into Saturday, Dec. 27.

According to preliminary information released by the RDK, Kapustin was killed in a strike by an FPV drone.

The group said additional details would be made public later, adding that the circumstances of the incident are still being established.

Kapustin founded the Russian Volunteer Corps in August 2022. The unit is made up primarily of ethnic Russian émigrés living in Ukraine and other European countries. Its fighters operate as part of Ukraine’s Defense Forces.

In November 2024, Russian authorities sentenced Kapustin and four other RDK fighters in absentia to life imprisonment for a second time. They were charged with treason and terrorism in connection with a cross-border raid into Russia’s Bryansk region in March 2023.

Editor: Demian Shevko