Redan PMC: teenage internet trend or Russia-backed destabilization plan?

The war in Ukraine has shown that Putin's Russia will go to great lengths to achieve victory. Recently, Ukrainian authorities have made a bizarre accusation against their antagonists, claiming that Russia is sending gangs of teenagers inspired by a Japanese anime game to their country to initiate skirmishes on the streets of Ukraine.

Image: DavidKime-Twitter@CyberRealms1

CNN is the first major news outlet to report on the matter, and CNN's Tim Lister wrote that these teenage gangs are "known as "Redan PMC," combining the name of a Japanese anime character with the acronym for Private Military Company, made infamous by the Wagner mercenary group."

Image: DavidKime-Twitter@CyberRealms1

According to CNN and other reports on the internet, members and supporters of Redan PMC often wear black shirts featuring a spider with the number four on it, along with checkered pants.

Image: YouTube@groovymutant

Both CNN and Newsweek say that the inspiration for the name of the group Redan comes from 'Hunter x Hunter,' a Japanese anime series featuring a gang called Gen'ei Ryodan.

Image: YouTube@mangakanobaka

News Week offers a bit more information on PMC Redan, saying that this "new youth subculture" is inspired by extreme nationalism, one of their slogans is "Russia for Russians".

Redan PMC has been in the Russian press for "staging mass brawls in shopping centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other major cities across the country." The group attacks those who they believe do not appear Russian.

The group is known for using Telegram channels to organize their activities, and Russian media says that the group began in Moscow as a means for teens to fight gangs of organized football fans.

However, Ukrainian authorities were baffled when members of PMC Redan appeared on Ukrainian streets in major cities two weeks ago.

According to CNN and Russia's business daily Vedomosti, groups of Russian teens have been spotted in Ukraine's capital city, Kyiv, along with Lviv, Odesa and Kharkiv.

In addition, a 16-year-old was picked up by the police in Dnipro, who suspected the teen was the ringleader of the group.

Image: Instagram@PMC_Redan

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's official website, a petition has been created insisting that Redan PMC be banned in the country. The petition states: "The petition will help prevent manifestations of pro-Russian sentiment throughout Ukraine."

Redan PMC is also a problem in Belarus. On February 28, the Belarus Ministry of Internal Affairs released a press statement in which they said that, thus far, over 200 people associated with the group had been arrested.

But what are these Russian teens doing in Ukraine? Are they just bored, mischievous teens or were they sent to Ukraine by Russia for a purpose?

CNN reported that Ukraine's national police believe that "the Russians are trying to export Redan's negative influence to Ukrainian teenagers through a disinformation campaign on Telegram channels."

Image: Instagram@pmc_redan_official

According to a statement made by the Ukrainian police on February 28, collected by CNN, the police have "blocked 18 Telegram channels and groups 'created to conduct Russian military information campaigns, undermine the domestic situation in Ukraine and involve minors in illegal activities.'"

Image: Twitter@generalsvr_en

The Ukrainian police added that "about 30 youth gatherings took place in different regions of the country over the course of two days. Law enforcement officers immediately responded and prevented conflicts among teenagers."

Image: YouTube@ukrainform

One of the larger gatherings occurred in Kharkiv, where Ukrainian law enforcement say 245 Redan PMC members (215 were minors) started a flash mob supposedly backed by the Russian Federation.

CNN reported that city police chief Volodymr Tymoshko claims that the FSB, the Russian security forces were behind the incident.

Tymoshko told CNN the FSB
"gathered all these people through manipulation and deception, and they should have started a fight so the Russian TV could use it. Gas canisters, knives, brass knuckles were found in the possession of many (participants)."

Image: Ukrainian News

Despite these claims from Ukraine, Russia says it does not support Redan PMC. The Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti reported that a total of 350 people suspected of involvement with the group were taken in by police in Moscow recently.

Of those taken in, 319 were minors and gas cartridges and knives were found on members of Redan and confiscated. Furthermore, RIA Novosti also reported that supporters of the group were also detained in other Russian cities such as St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Kazan.

On February 28, the Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the press that the government hoped to put a stop to Redan PMC's "illegal actions." Pskove added, "And, of course, it is rather, let's say, a pseudo-subculture that goes with a minus sign and which does nothing good for our youth."

It remains unclear if these teens form part of some larger Russian propaganda plan or simply are bored and messing about with the power of the internet.

The police in Dnipro released a video of the 16-year-old they detained who founded a Redan Telegram channel. CNN reported that in the video, the teen says, "I am the founder of a group with about 2,500 members. I created it to make money from advertising posts, as the topic of Redan is popular on social media."

Image: Dnipro police department

The teen went on to say that the idea "came from Russia, intending destabilization. I ask everyone to stop organizing meetings and looking for Redanists."

CNN also reported that in Kyiv, police detained a 15-year-old girl for starting a Redan Telegram channel along with a 14-year-old boy who organized a "conflict meeting."

The police shared the video on social media where the 15-year-old girl said Redan PMC was "just for hype… I also want to say there is no Redan [in] Kyiv."

Image: David Kime-Twitter@CyberRealms1

Furthermore, as the 16-year-old in Dnipro told the police, it was simply "straight-up Russian propaganda. I ask that you not believe such information and focus on caring about our guys who are now fighting."