They started out as a fan group of Japanese anime and cartoons and eventually grew into a dangerous and violent group on behalf of foreign powers. At least in the perception of the governments of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. In recent weeks, ChVK Ryodan’s youth, recognizable by their black T-shirts with the spider symbol on their backs, have faced mass arrests in three countries as well as attacks by real gangs, often of a neo-fascist nature. was born to fight them.
They have become so famous and fearful that even the best politicians of the Russian Federation began to talk about them. Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the presidential office “interested” the group as a “fake subculture” that “doesn’t bring anything good to our youth”. The head of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, Vasily Piskarev, announced that Russian deputies plan to “closely monitor” the group’s activities, adding that he suspects ChVK Ryodan is led by “unfriendly countries”.
Ryodan are fans of anime, especially the Hunter x Hunter series. “Ryodan”, meaning “community” in Japanese, is a group of thieves featured in the series, whose symbol is a white spider with a changing symbol. The group really started to gain notoriety earlier last week when a video showing a teenager fighting at Moscow’s Aviapark mall made waves on the country’s social media. The fight allegedly broke out when a group of teenagers objected to the others’ unusual and coordinated outfits, all wearing long-sleeved black shirts with a spider silhouette on the back and checkered trousers typical of Ryodan.
Similar fights later broke out in other parts of the country, involving Ryodan, it is not clear why the group, or rather, this, as it turns out, instead became the victim of attacks and simply defended itself. Also in response to these facts, the Ryodans ironically started adding the abbreviation ChVK to their name, which stands for Chastnaja Voennaja Kompanja, a private military company; .
However, supporters of ChVK Ryodan interviewed by the US-funded media outlet Sever.Realii emphasized that they are not affiliated with any ideology, let alone an ideology that propagates violence. A member of the group identified as Yevgenia said, “We are a group of young people who go to concerts and walk together. We have common interests and an ‘alternative’ side.” The girl later said, “The fight at Aviapark was an accident. Our acquaintances were harassed by a man because of their appearance. We did not provoke anyone, we are just a normal group of teenagers.”
But as Bellingcat reported, anti-Ryodan groups sprang up against them and began hunting them down. On some private Telegram channels accessed by the investigative journalism site, users are sharing videos of physical attacks on young men wearing black hoodies, often in what appears to be shopping mall restrooms and in wooded areas. Some videos even point to Ryodan being beaten. Images and symbols of these groups often include Celtic crosses and other neo-fascist emblems.
Despite this, the Ryodans have become the number one wanted and subject of mass arrests in many cities of the Russian Federation and beyond. According to the Rbc Ukrainian news agency, Ukrainian law enforcement has already arrested more than 200 youths allegedly linked to Ryodan in several Ukrainian cities, and authorities accuse them of being Russian agitators seeking to destabilize the country. 200 alleged followers of Ryodan were instead arrested in the southeastern Belarusian city of Gomel. However, very few of the mass arrests in these three countries involved real conflicts: most of them occurred during the arrests of teenagers dressed in Ryodan clothing in shopping malls and other public places.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
