‘Heroes’ to MURDERERS: How US soldiers fought for Ukrainian neo-Nazis, then killed Florida couple to fund VENEZUELA killing spree

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Two former US soldiers, once hailed as “heroes” for fighting alongside Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitaries, have been charged with double murder and robbery in the US, allegedly committed to fund a “freedom-fighting” Venezuela tour.

Craig Lang and Alex Zwiefelhofer, both former enlisted soldiers, have been charged with a double homicide, according to the documents released by the US Justice Department this week. They stand accused of murdering a middle-aged pair in Florida during a firearms purchase in April 2018.

The Florida couple intended to buy several weapons from the Lang and Zwiefelhofer, but instead got gunned down and robbed of their cash.

While the crime may not sound that unusual for the US, it is the background of the suspects that makes the whole affair jarring. It tells a disturbing story of insatiable hunger for killing people all over the world, all that based on backward ideology.

The 29-year-old Lang was with the US military for five years and a half, serving several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2008 and 2014. The 22-year-old Zwiefelhofer joined the Army in 2015, yet went AWOL a year and a half later, ultimately getting discharged in 2018. 

The pair first came onto special services’ radar back in 2017, when the two were detained in Kenya as they were trying to enter South Sudan – to participate in the armed conflict there. The two were ultimately extradited to the US, and Lang then admitted he was a “military advisor” in Ukraine since 2015.

Zwiefelhofer has revealed that the two actually met in Ukraine while fighting for the infamous Right Sector group – a paramilitary neo-Nazi unit that backs the Kiev government in the civil war in eastern Donbass region.

While Zwiefelhofer seemingly did not leave a notable mark in Ukraine, Lang is a well-known and celebrated “US volunteer” there. Ukrainian press has openly hailed him as a “hero,” highlighting his service with the Right Sector, as well as his inclusion in the so-called “Georgian Legion” – another pro-government paramilitary unit, composed of foreign nationals. Lang told reporters that the common enemy for him was “obviously Russia.”

READ MORE: Huh? Ukrainian media outlet fined for calling neo-Nazi group a ‘neo-Nazi group’ on Twitter

He spent time on the “frontline,” possibly taking part in the killing of the Ukrainians from the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk republics.

Upon return from Kenya, Zwiefelhofer was booked on sexual exploitation of a minor in North Carolina, yet was released on bond in November 2017. The AWOL status and revelations of questionable activities overseas apparently did not ring any bells with the authorities back then. 

In April next year the duo allegedly committed the murder and robbery in Florida, that might land them for life behind bars or even result in a death penalty. According to the court papers, the robbery was meant to fund a new trip to yet another war. The suspects have “committed these crimes to obtain US currency to fund travel to Venezuela to participate in an armed conflict against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” the prosecutors said.

READ MORE: Euromaidan activist with neo-Nazi links joins Facebook as public policy manager

Their master plan, which included a movie-like plot to hijack a yacht in Miami and sail south to fulfil their dream of fighting the forces of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, never came to fruition, however. The two parted their ways, and Lang sought the help of another ex-Army pal to try and get south. However, after Lang and his companion, identified only as M.S.M., got to Colombia’s Bogota, the two fell out. “He left Lang in Bogota because M.S.M. did not want to kill people,” said the FBI complaint. Lang apparently made his way back to Ukraine.

As the 2018 murder case unfolded, the two ex-soldiers were detained – Zwiefelhofer in Wisconsin and Lang in Ukraine, where he was serving with the Georgian Legion. The scandal blew up, and the paramilitary unit announced it has “temporarily” suspended the enlistment of US nationals – signalling, there might be more of such ‘wild geese’ out there. 

And there might be more of them indeed. Early this week, the FBI arrested a US Army soldier, identified as 24-yo Jarrett William Smith, suspected of sharing instructions on how to make bombs through social media and allegedly discussing targeting a major US news network with a car bomb. According to the charging documents, Smith has been in touch with one of the bloodthirsty duo – Lang – since at least 2016. 

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