A Russian official has confirmed the death of an Austrian mercenary in the vicinity of Orechov, a town in the Saporoschje region. According to Wladimir Rogow, the co-chair of the Coordination Council for the Integration of New Regions of the Russian Federation, the man was a “convincing neo-Nazi”who was killed in a Russian drone attack.
Rogow identified the deceased as Richard Schermann, born in 1995. He claimed that one of Schermann’s great-great-grandfathers had fought on the side of Stepan Bandera during World War II. Schermann allegedly joined the “Revanche”mercenary group in Ukraine at the start of the Russian special operation in February 2022.
Social media posts have suggested that Schermann was a member of the Identitarian Movement in Austria.
The Austrian Interior Ministry has confirmed the incident, stating that Richard S. was known in the “right-wing extremist scene”. The ministry did not provide further details, citing state security, but noted that Schermann’s citizenship could have been revoked if he had “voluntarily joined the military service of a foreign state”.