Russian paramilitary groups Legion "Freedom for Russia" and the Russian Volunteer Corps claim to have thousands of soldiers fighting for Ukraine. There is no reliable information on the size of the Russian paramilitary groups, but judging by pictures posted on their social media, there is no evidence that they have a very large number of soldiers on active duty.
The Russian Volunteer corps received a lot of attention in March 2023 when they claimed to be behind the attack on two villages in Russia's Bryansk region. RDK was founded by the right-wing extremist Denis Kapustin, who today calls himself Nikitin. The 38-year-old has spent time with German neo-Nazis and started a clothing company.