Maximilian Alexandrovich Andronnikov (; born 19 March 1974), more commonly known by his

nom-de-guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In ''ancien régime'' France it would be adopted by each new recruit (or assigned to them by ...

"Caesar" (), is a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...

who is the commander and media spokesperson of the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comedy ...

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

group

Freedom of Russia Legion The Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL, ; ; abbr. ''ЛСР'', ''LSR''), also called the Free Russia Legion, is a Ukrainian-based Paramilitary, paramilitary unit of Russian citizens, which Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, opposes the Russia u ...

. He is also a member of the

Ilya Ponomarev Ilya Vladimirovich Ponomarev (, ; born 6 August 1975) is a Russian people, Russian-Ukrainian people, Ukrainian politician who was a member of the Russian State Duma from 2007 to 2016. He was the only member of the State Duma not to vote in fa ...

-led Congress of People's Deputies.

Biography

Andronnikov was born on 19 March 1974 in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

. According to himself, he has a pedagogic education and worked as a coach in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Andronnikov was previously a member of the ultranationalist

Russian Imperial Movement The Russian Imperial Movement (RIM; , ''RID'')Marlene Laruelle, ''Russian Nationalism: Imaginaries, Doctrines, and Political Battlefields'' (Routledge, 2019), pp. 167, 202-203. is a Ruscism, Russian ultranationalist and white supremacistJohn Hu ...

(RIM), a group that is publicly opposed to

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

but has also fielded pro-Russian fighters in the

War in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

. A member of RIM who knows Andronnikov said he left the group before the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

began in 2014. Andronnikov was also called a witness in a 2012 case about an alleged military coup plot planned by several people led by Vladimir Kvachkov in

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

. Andronnikov, who then headed the Saint Petersburg “military-patriotic club,” was not charged in this case. Andronnikov was working as an archery coach in February 2022 when the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began and quickly left for Ukraine, fighting on the Ukrainian side ever since and saying earlier this year that his ultimate goal was to remove Putin from power. Before the 2023 raid, he said that he fought near the city of Bakhmut.

Views

Caesar, a former member of the ultranationalist, and

neo-nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

, described himself as a

right-wing nationalist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populism, populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-Elitism, ...

, but said that "we adhere to moderate centrist views" in the

References

1974 births Living people Russian nationalists Russian pro-Ukraine foreign volunteers in the Russian invasion of Ukraine {{Russia-bio-stub

Biography

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See also

References