As far as the Russians are concerned, they have found their man.
Denis Kapustin, one of the most prominent anti-Putin Russians fighting on behalf of Ukraine, was reportedly assassinated by a drone on December 27 on the southern front.
He has long been hunted by Moscow, and the bounty on his head reflects this: Russian intelligence has offered a $500,000 (£370,000) bounty to anyone who kills him.
Russia paid the fee after news of the successful strike broke this week. But what Vladimir Putin’s intelligence services didn’t know was that they had given the money directly to Ukraine.
“Your legacy lives on”
Mr Kapustin, who goes by the alias “White Rex”, founded the pro-Ukrainian Russian Volunteer Army (RDK) in 2022.
The group made headlines in 2023 and 2024 with cross-border incursions into Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk regions, humiliating the Russian president and his generals.
His death was first confirmed by RDK itself. “Dennis, we will definitely take revenge,” the group said on Telegram. “Your legacy will live on forever.”
Yet on New Year’s Day, in a video released by Ukraine’s military intelligence service (HUR), Mr Kapustin reappeared unscathed in a morale-boosting ruse.
Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, has been an effective source of Russia’s woes — Laurent Van der Stockt for Le Monde/Getty
“Welcome to the resurrection,” HUR chief General Kyrilo Budanov said with a wry smile. He congratulated Mr. Kapustin and his team for successfully deceiving their Russian opponents.
It turns out that HUR, together with RDK, hatched a plan to fake Mr. Kapustin’s death and claim a $500,000 Russian bounty for himself to use in the war in Ukraine.
“First of all, Mr. Denis, congratulations on your new life. This is always a pleasure. I am glad that the funds allocated for your assassination are being used to support our struggle,” General Budanov added.
Outwit the Russians
Russia’s FSB and GRU agencies have long been worrisome for their ruthlessness.
But during nearly four years of war, Ukrainian intelligence agencies have continually proven their ability to outwit their Russian counterparts, assassinating generals and Kremlin officials on Russian soil, plotting sophisticated sabotage operations and recruiting Russian agents.
In November, reports emerged that Ukrainian intelligence services were using Russia’s own agents to accept missions publicly offered by the Russian Federal Security Service in order to obtain financial rewards and sabotage their targets.
In one case, a Ukrainian double agent accepted a bomb-making assignment from a Russian employment commission and then handed it over to a Russian saboteur.
However, the bomb was made from flour and Russian agents were captured by Ukraine after the explosion failed.
Ukraine has also claimed responsibility for the assassination of a senior Russian official, while Kiev is suspected of being behind numerous other assassinations.
Yaroslav Moskalik killed by bomb in April
The scene of the explosion where Jaroslav Moskalik was killed – Yuri Kochetkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
In April, the deputy chief of the Russian Army’s Main War Directorate, Yaroslav Moskalik, was killed by a car bomb on Nesterov Avenue in the Balashikha suburb of Moscow.
Russian media outlet Baza, which has sources inside law enforcement agencies, said the homemade bomb was strapped to a parked Volkswagen and detonated remotely when Moskalik, who lives nearby, walked by.
Pro-Russian Ukrainian lawyer Andrei Portnov shot dead in Madrid – Uniian
Scene of the assassination of Andriy Portnov after sending his daughter to school – Sergio García Carrasco/20minutos.es
A month later, a former Ukrainian politician was shot dead at the entrance to a private school in Madrid in what appeared to be a professional attack.
Andriy Portnov, a pro-Russian politician who had served as a close aide to the Moscow regime, was walking his daughters home when an assassin shot him several times.
The shooting occurred at the American School in Madrid as other parents were running at the school.
Lieutenant General Fanir Salvarov is responsible for training the Kremlin’s armed forces
The aftermath of the explosion that killed Salvarov – Maxim Shipenkov/EPA/Shutterstock
Recently, the 56-year-old Lieutenant General Fanil Salvarov, the head of the Russian Army Combat Training Directorate, was killed in an explosion in Moscow on December 22. The explosion may have been planted by Ukrainian special forces.
The explosion was so powerful that at least seven cars parked nearby were also damaged.
The general worked in the Russian Defense Ministry and participated in combat operations in Chechnya, Syria, Ossetia and Ukraine.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov killed by explosives hidden in e-scooter – AP
One of the most high-profile assassinations was the killing of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov on December 17, 2024.
The officer in charge of Russia’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons was killed by a remote detonation device hidden in an electric scooter.
“Kirilov is a war criminal and an absolutely legitimate target because he ordered the use of banned chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces,” a Ukrainian security source said.
The aftermath of the explosion after Kirillov’s assassination – Sefa Karacan/Anadolu via Getty
In an audacious mission in June 2025 known as Operation Spiderweb, Ukrainian-operated drones destroyed several Russian surveillance planes and nuclear-capable bombers, which Kiev officials said rendered a third of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers useless.
The drones were smuggled into Russia and assembled deep in Russian territory and launched from trucks, another huge victory for Ukrainian spies.
The latest intelligence success in Ukraine means far-right extremist and former football hooligan Denis Kapustin is in Ukraine and “ready to continue carrying out his assigned mission,” a Ukrainian commander said.
The commander’s family moved from Moscow to Germany when Kapustin was 17, and he moved to Ukraine in 2017.
Since 2019, he has been banned from entering the Schengen area for promoting neo-Nazi ideology.
In the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Kapustin helped form the Ukrainian 3rd Commando Brigade, which played a key role in defending Kiev and later became famous for its fierce fighting on the Eastern Front.
Responding to reports of his death, the III Corps said: “Together we faced a common enemy in the battle for Kiev.”
On December 27, it added: “He believes [Ukraine] As a place of true resistance and freedom. “
In August 2022, Kapustin established RDK with the goal of overthrowing Putin and bringing “peace” to Russia. Its stated goal is to end Putin’s regime of “lies, corruption and lawlessness.”
imprisonment in absentia
It is made up of former Wagner Group recruits, some former FSB agents and civilian volunteers. The organization is designated a terrorist organization by Russia.
Russian courts twice sentenced Kapustin to life imprisonment in absentia for treason and terrorism.
In March 2024, the RDK joined other anti-Kremlin militiamen in driving tanks and armored vehicles into Russia. It clashed with Russian security services and captured Russian soldiers.
Kiev said the invasion of Russia was not carried out on Kiev’s orders, although it was fighting under its command as part of the Ukrainian military.
Since the invasion, the group has either fought on the front lines or engaged in cross-border sabotage in Russia.
Former member of the Wagner Group “White” is now a soldier in the Russian Volunteer Army – Ximena Borrazás
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph in September, a 26-year-old Russian volunteer, an RDK commander nicknamed “White”, described how he joined in order to retaliate for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We try to change some things in Russia,” he said. “After the war is over, I will continue to fight until Putin falls.”