The New Comintern: From Discussion Clubs and Hikes to Dying for Russia on the Frontline

In late April 2026, a founding forum was held at Moscow's House of Unions for a new international socialist network called Sovintern. The event was organised by Russia's Spravedlivaya Rossiya party. Vladimir Putin opened it with a personal welcoming address.

The name Sovintern echoes the Comintern - the Soviet-era Communist International that Moscow used to coordinate foreign communist parties and project influence abroad. The stated goal of the new organisation is to generate as much information content as possible, with each participant expected to spread common narratives in their home country to discredit their own governments.

In practice, The Insider has found, several of Sovintern's participants are directly involved in recruiting foreign soldiers for the war in Ukraine.

The Pipeline

The path from Western far-left activism to the Russian front line typically follows three stages.

The first is relatively benign: community cleanups, food drives for the homeless, charity events in low-income neighbourhoods, nature hikes, discussion clubs. These create a sense of community and shared purpose. On May 7, 2026, the Canadian branch of the American Communist Party organised a nature hike in Toronto. On Memorial Day, May 25, 2026, ACP chapters in Michigan and Illinois held cleanup events followed by a camp-out with a barbecue and live-fire training. The participants' clothing featured ACP patches alongside St. George ribbons marked with the letter Z - symbols associated with support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The second stage shifts to open political activity: rallies against NATO, in support of the Kremlin and Iran, trying to potray Ukraine as a country of nazism. On May 2, 2026, pro-Russian rallies were held outside Ukrainian embassies in London, Berlin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Dublin, Dakar and Pretoria, organised around Russian propaganda narratives about the 2014 Odesa clashes. In London, the rally was run by Workers Party of Britain members Jesse Vinny, Chris Williamson and Hoz Shafiey. Attendees waved flags of Russia, the Donetsk "People's Republic" and Novorossiya.

The third stage: the most committed participants are offered to go to the front.

The Organisations

The American Communist Party (ACP) was founded on July 21, 2024 by Adam Tahir (known publicly as Haz Al-Din, or Infrared) and Jackson Hinkle, both Russophile Marxist-Leninist streamers and admirers of fascist ideologue Alexander Dugin. The party has established chapters across the United States and a branch in Canada. Several of its members are now fighting for Russia in Ukraine.

In the UK, the equivalent function is served by the Workers Party of Britain and its affiliated movement no2nato, headed by George Galloway, 71, a frequent guest on Russian state propaganda programming. The party's members actively look for potential mercenaries.

Both organisations were represented at the Sovintern founding forum in Moscow alongside the Midwestern Marx Institute and Serbian politician Bajan Vulin.

The Recruiter

At the centre of the English-speaking recruitment network is Benjamin Stimson, a British citizen from Oldham who first went to fight in Ukraine in 2015 through the Interbrigades network - a pro-Russian formation built around former members of Russia's National Bolshevik Party. He was recruited by his friend Ayo Benes, a Latvian National Bolshevik of Russian-Ugandan origin known as "Black Lenin," who had participated in Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Stimson joined the 4th Company of the Pyatnashka international brigade in Debaltseve. In November 2015, he was arrested on his return to the UK and served six years and four months in prison.

In February 2024, Stimson returned to Russia and received asylum. In March 2026, with the assistance of State Duma lawmaker Maria Butina - herself a former prisoner who served time in the United States for coordination with Russian officials before returning to Russia and joining United Russia - Stimson received Russian citizenship and membership in United Russia. His assigned task is to find and train foreign mercenaries for the war, with a focus on English-speaking recruits.

His associate Aiden Minnis has publicly called on supporters to identify the locations of warehouses and production facilities supplying Ukraine with weapons and to stop those deliveries "by any means." Acts of sabotage have become increasingly common across the UK and Europe.

The Recruits

Bradley Townsend, a fisherman from Yorkshire with no prior military experience, went to Russia in April 2026 under the influence of far-left agitation. In Moscow, he was met by Stimson and Minnis. They set up a personal channel for Townsend documenting his life in Russia and gave him interviews on Stimson's YouTube channel and with pro-Russian British video blogger Mike "ForeignAgentIntel" Jones - all designed to serve as recruitment material for others. Townsend was subsequently killed at the front.

Darryl Fladung, a supermarket security guard from Queensland, Australia, arrived in Moscow the same spring with no combat experience. He was met by Stimson and Townsend. During training at a firing range in May 2026, he injured his knee and ankle tendons. After recovering, he was sent to the front.

Seth Albert Noon, an ACP member from South Carolina, serves in Russia's 24th Motorized Rifle Brigade and has fought in Bakhmut and the Kherson region.

Michael Gloss, the son of a senior CIA official, was killed in Russia's army in 2024 at age 21 after being drawn to the far-left agenda and Russia's self-described "special mission."

Ryan Gallant, a Canadian ACP member and professional helicopter pilot, arrived in Irkutsk via China in late April 2026.

Kalen Pavan, a 17-year-old Canadian cadet, was recruited through socialist chapters in 2024 and arrived at Interbrigades headquarters in the Donbas. When his age became known, he was taken by the FSB and sent to the European Union - first Denmark, then Poland - for intelligence work. He failed and was arrested and convicted.

What the Pipeline Produces

Those who survive the front often do not go home. The risk of criminal prosecution in their countries of origin means that some veterans of Russia's war from western countries frequently remain in Russia and transition from recruit to recruiter - joining networks like Stimson's to find the next wave of volunteers.

The logic is self-reinforcing. Community events build loyalty. Rallies deepen ideology. The front line is presented as the natural culmination. And the men who come back from it - if they come back - become the ones running the next round of cleanups, hikes and discussion clubs to lure even more people into the Russian war of aggression. 

Those who realised they were lured and trapped by Russia have a chance to save themselves - by reaching out to the "I Want to Live" project - here is how.

Source: The Insider