Ukraine has revealed that the "death" of top commander Denis Kapustin was in fact an elaborate hoax.
The operation was designed to thwart a genuine assassination attempt ordered by Moscow.
Mr Kapustin, who also goes by "Denis Nikitin" and "White Rex", leads the Russian Volunteer Corps, a hard-right group made up of pro-Ukraine Russian volunteers.
He was declared dead last week following an apparent FPV drone strike in the Zaporizhzhia region.
His own fighters posted tributes to their "fallen" boss on Telegram, vowing revenge against Vladimir Putin's men.
However, Ukraine's Defence Intelligence agency confirmed the death was fabricated as part of a special operation.
The ruse allowed Ukrainian authorities to identify those behind the deadly plot while securing the $500,000 bounty Russia had allegedly placed on Mr Kapustin's head.
In footage released on the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Telegram channel, the commander appeared very much alive, smirking as he sat alongside intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov.
Denis Kapustin was seen smirking after his 'resurrection'
|TELEGRAM/GRU
Mr Budanov congratulated him on his "return to life" and described him as "Putin's personal enemy".
The intelligence boss said the elaborate deception required more than a month to pull off.
"A failure of Russian secret services - the RVC commander is alive, and the half a million dollars received for his 'killing' will strengthen DIU special units," Mr Budanov stated.
Kapustin himself played down any disruption caused by his disappearance.
The Russian-born commander is nicknamed Vladimir Putin's 'personal enemy'
|REUTERS
He insisted his "temporary absence had no impact on the work of the units".
The RVC leader also confirmed his readiness to go straight back into combat and murky "special operations".
Mr Kapustin is a divisive figure, with roots in Moscow's football hooligan scene and hard-right activism.
He spent much of his early years in Germany before relocating to Kyiv in 2017.
He previously operated the White Rex clothing brand and organised mixed martial arts events.
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Denis Kapustin is a divisive figure, with roots in Moscow's football hooligan scene and hard-right activism
|REUTERS
Since 2019, he has been barred from the Schengen area due to connections with "far-right elements" in the MMA world.
A number of fighters under his command have openly expressed neo-Nazi sympathies.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Mr Kapustin established the Russian Volunteer Corps to fight alongside Ukrainian forces.
The group has conducted cross-border incursions into Russian territory.
Moscow has formally classified both the organisation and its commander as terrorists.
The staged killing echoes a controversial 2018 incident involving Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko.
Ukrainian authorities announced at the time that the writer had been shot dead at his home.
He then stunned the world by appearing alive at a press conference the following day.
The deception sparked outrage among journalists and press freedom organisations - but Kyiv maintained the ruse was essential to protect Mr Babchenko from an alleged Kremlin assassination plot.
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