The Ukrainian intelligence services claim to have carried out a covert operation of high symbolic and economic impact against Russia. According to their version, they faked the death of a prominent commander of a Russian militia fighting alongside Ukraine to induce Moscow to pay a reward of half a million dollars for his head. The supposed death turned out to be a carefully staged scenario.
The protagonist of this story is Denis Kapustin, a Russian citizen known by his war alias White Rex, leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), ua militia formed by Russian fighters against the Kremlin which operates alongside the Ukrainian Army. Kapustin, with an ultranationalist ideology and links to neo-Nazism, has become a particularly uncomfortable figure for Moscow due to his active role in armed actions against Russian territory.
At the end of December, Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) announced that Kapustin had been killed in a Russian drone attack in the Zaporizhzhia region. The news was spread through channels linked to the RDK and accompanied by messages of mourning and threats of retaliation. For several days, the version of his death was accepted as valid.
A covert operation with a financial reward
The story took an unexpected turn on January 1, when HUR chief Kyrylo Budanov published a video showing Kapustin alive. The commander, supposedly deceased, reappeared smiling, completely dismantling the previous story. According to the Ukrainian authorities, everything had been a deliberate maneuver.
According to a statement from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the false death made it possible to identify the alleged perpetrators within the Russian secret services who would have ordered Kapustin’s murder. Moscow would have offered a reward of $500,000 for his eliminationmoney that – according to Kiev – was “secured” through this operation and that will now be used for the defense of the country.
Nevertheless, This version could not be independently verified. Neither Russia has confirmed the payment of the reward nor is there public evidence to support the effective transfer of the money. Even so, The announcement fits with Ukraine’s communication strategy, that seeks to show initiative, ingenuity and infiltration capacity in the intelligence war parallel to the armed conflict.
Kapustin and the RDK are not minor players on this board. In recent months, The group has carried out armed incursions into Russian territory, coming to temporarily control some towns near the border. These actions, beyond their military value, have a strong propaganda impact and reveal cracks in Russian security.
It is not the first time: the Babchenko precedent
Kapustin’s alleged faked death would not be an isolated case. In 2018, Ukrainian intelligence services resorted to a similar tactic that went around the world. Then, the murder of Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, known for his criticism of the Kremlin and his coverage of armed conflicts, was announced in kyiv.
For 24 hours, international media reported his death until Babchenko himself appeared at a press conference, alive and uninjured. The Ukrainian authorities justified the operation as a trap to unmask the masterminds of the alleged assassination plan, linked—as they claimed—to Russia.
That episode generated enormous controversy. Journalist organizations and Defenders of press freedom harshly criticized the maneuver for eroding information credibility and trivializing violence against communicators. Despite this, kyiv defended then – as now – that the ends justified the means in a context of hybrid war.
The operation related to Kapustin moves along that same blurred border between intelligence, propaganda and strategic disinformation. Although its real success is difficult to verify, the political message is clear: Ukraine intends to demonstrate that it can deceive the Russian secret services, even using your own rules and rewards against you. In a conflict where information is as decisive as weapons, faking a death can become a blow as effective as a military attack.
