The National Police accuses Nucleo Nacional of training in Ukraine to prepare an "armed uprising"

MadridThe National Police have confirmed that the militants of Núcleo Nacional who were arrested last Friday traveled to Ukraine last August to receive paramilitary training, use weapons of war, and establish ties with other like-minded organizations with the goal of preparing for what they called an "armed uprising" in Spain. This is stated in the summary, first reported by Efe, incorporated into the investigation being conducted by the Gijón investigating court number 1, which last Friday ordered the simultaneous arrest of 14 people and several raids in Asturias, Madrid, Guadalajara, Burgos, Alicante, Pontevedra, and Valladolid.

In the police report detailing the seizure of bladed weapons, pyrotechnic material, and Nazi and fascist symbolic propaganda, investigators from the General Information Commissariat document the travel of several far-right militants to Ukraine. Specifically, in one of the communications intercepted on August 21 involving Iván Rico Olivares, alias el Rana, one of the most prominent members of the Núcleo Nacional leadership, he explains how they will arrive in Ukraine by plane.

The day after this message, the police confirmed the departure of five of these neo-Nazis on a flight to Munich, specifically Rico, José Manuel Vaquero Martín, Rafael Bonal Sánchez, Roberto Cuadrado Alonso, and Aitor Rodríguez Arizmendi. In the following days, one recounted to his wife his situation in an apartment and a military camp "only twenty kilometers from the Russian border," explaining that the town is destroyed and that sirens can be heard.

The police investigation details that the neo-Nazi group established contact with the 12th Azov Brigade and, according to posts on social media, the displaced individuals appear with tactical equipment, bulletproof vests, and AK-47 assault rifles during target practice. The reports conclude that the purpose of the trip to the conflict zone was to receive military training and learn how to handle weapons of war to subsequently pass these tactics on to the membership in Spain, in relation to their stated intention to prepare what they called an "armed uprising" in their internal communications. In fact, Rico states in one communication that "without training, no uprising will work."

60 members in 7 consolidated branches and 13 active ones

In addition to this trip, the police report describes the pyramidal structure of Núcleo Nacional with a central governing body at the top they call "the dome", seven functional departments and a decentralized territorial network composed of delegations and pre-delegations. The dome is composed of seven people: Iván Rico Olivares, el Rana, president or highest official; Alberto Gonzalo de Juan, Pugilato; David Rico Olivares; Enrique Lemus Sánchez; Jesús Antonio Ruiz; Joaquín Yebra-Pimentel Álvarez and Carlos José Coloma.

According to the Police, Núcleo Nacional divides its functions into seven specialized departments: organization, security, economic, legal; social networks and propaganda (which includes Isabel Peralta, a prominent member arrested last Friday) and international relations and affiliations. Likewise, the report details that the far-right organization has a territorial deployment that operates through cells with seven consolidated delegations –Madrid/Guadalajara, Valladolid, Barcelona, Asturias, Burgos, Valencia and Murcia– and thirteen "pre-delegations active in Alicante, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Ceuta, Cordoba, Malaga, Navarre, the Basque Country. With this network, the investigators determine that Núcleo Nacional has "about sixty members" spread across the State.