Reuters
A group of pro-Russian activists in Germany donated funds to a Russian army division fighting in Ukraine, and the money was used to purchase walkie-talkie radios, headphones and telephones, according to an officer in the division and messages from the group's organisers seen by Reuters. The couple at the centre of the group, Elena Kolbasnikova and Max Schlund, handed the sum of 500 euros ($540) to the officer in person late last year. A Jan. 3 Reuters Special Report revealed that Kolbasnikova and Schlund were among a number of individuals in Germany who promote a pro-Moscow stance while maintaining undisclosed ties to the Russian state, sanctioned Russian entities or the far-right.