Ukrainian Language Atomwaffen Division Video Allegedly Filmed in Canada

Peter Smith
Canadian Anti-Hate Network

Image taken from the Atomwaffen Division propaganda video titled “Fission” that the RCMP alleged was filmed in Quebec. Source: Telegram

During the trial of Patrick Macdonald, a 27-year-old Ottawa man accused of creating hate propaganda encouraging terrorism, the location of the filming site of two of the videos was revealed to allegedly be a rural property in Quebec and an abandoned concrete factory in Belleville, Ontario. 

Better known by his pseudonym Dark Foreigner, Patrick Gordon Macdonald, 27, is accused of participating in the activity of a terrorist group, facilitating terrorist activity, and the commission of offence for a terrorist group for his role allegedly creating propaganda for the Atomwaffen Division. The three videos related to the charges were allegedly created and released in 2019.

In a trial scheduled to go three weeks, the second week concluded on Wednesday as the Crown called its last two witnesses, an investigator and intelligence analyst for the RCMP’s INSET team, Dominic Gallant and Samuel Tardif respectively. 

Both men worked to identify locations seen in an Atomwaffen Division video titled Fission, which they say was recorded in the Quebec town of St-Ferdinand. This aligns with some other details previously known about the case, as properties in St-Ferdinand and Plessisville were searched by the RCMP in June 2022. 

Gallant testified about how the search of an old school, since converted to a residence and farm, was able to be matched to specific scenes in Fission. In the video, men carrying what appear to be firearms work their way through the woods. Interspersed with other footage, including a scene burning the American and Israeli flag, at one point the figures charge into the building in what Gallant called entering “in tactical mode.” 

The footage is dark and hides many details about the locations and individuals involved. Flashes of bright light expose distinct features of the building. Gallant outlines how he and a team of RCMP officers were able to find specific cracks and striations in bricks and paint in the old schoolhouse that were visible in the videos. 

Screenshots from the Atomwaffen Division propaganda video titled “Fission.” These scenes were discussed during the trial of Patrick Macdonald. Source: Telegram

Gallant also testified that the plate carrier and tactical vest found during the search of Macdonald’s home was the same model as one worn by an individual that appeared in Fission. This along with a pair of Rayban sunglasses and the same brand of walkie-talkie found in the home and seen in the video were used to suggest that Macdonald was identified in the footage without him ever showing his face. 

Only two individuals in the Fission video are wearing sunglasses. 

An individual from the Fission video wearing sunglasses and a walkie-talkie. Source: Telegram

The court also heard the translation of a Russian language document found in Macdonald’s ceiling during a search of his residence. Titled the “AWD Program,” the pamphlet lays out how an individual can create a cell dedicated to the Atomwaffen Division. Instructing would-be adherents on the gear, clothing, and ideological motivation needed, the document is still frequently shared in militant accelerationist circles.The English language version was used by the leader of the short lived Kernatium Division, in their attempt to form a new neo-Nazi militia using Atomwaffen as a model. 

“The skull mask signifies loyalty until death,” the AWD Program says about part of the group's unofficial uniform. 

Books which members are instructed to read include Siege by James Mason and the Christchurch Shooter’s manifesto.

“Don’t join a cell, create the cell,” the interpreter read to the court. 

Another new detail came on Tuesday from Ontario Provincial Police Officer Jeff Schwarjeski, who determined that part of another Atomwaffen propaganda video likely came from Ontario. This video features footage of a war-damaged landscape along with several armed men in skull masks reading a message in Ukrainian. 

“We highly suspected these [propaganda videos] were made in Canada,” Schwarjeski says, where previous Atomwaffen videos had been made in the United States.

Allegedly created by Atomwaffen Division Galizien—the historical name of a region in Eastern Poland and Western Ukraine—this second video was recorded in front of a cement wall spray painted with a radioactive warning sign and Cyrillic lettering.

"As the future of the Ukrainian nation and the greater European race is in freefall, we pledge our allegiance to the Atomwaffen Division," subtitles in the video read. They add shortly after, "there will be no peace as long as you remain."

Schwarjeski testified after he obtained a copy of Macdonald’s mobile phone activity, he noted that the man had been logged connecting to cellular towers in Belleville, Ontario. Working on the assumption that Macdonald and other individuals had recorded footage for the videos somewhere in the city, Schwarjeski said he used Google Maps to locate an abandoned concrete plant in town. 

Visiting the plant with his partner, Schwarjeski testified that they found the same graffiti on a wall, though someone had made efforts to cover up the bulk of it with a paint roller. He also added that a swastika had been covered with the letters “BLM.”

Initially part of the OPP’s Probe Hornet, this investigation merged with the RCMP’s Project Seyant, the investigation into the creation of the Atomwaffen Division propaganda videos in Canada. 

Schwarjeski also told the court that garbage he found on the ground matched what could be seen in the video he was investigating. 

Screen capture from a video allegedly created by Atomwaffen Division Galizien that the OPP allege was created in Belleville, Ontario. Besides the Atomwaffen flag (left), one individual is holding the red and black flag of the Right Sector (right), a far-right network of Ukrainian activists. Source: Telegram  

The week began with testimony from Ian Haya, who specializes in forensic analysis of audio and video files for the RCMP. He broke down many of the different scenes and images in the three Atomwaffen videos related to Macdonald’s charges into common file groupings, assessing that footage from Fission and one other video came from the same model of camera seized from Macdonald. 

He also noted that the camera used a similar discrepancy in the date the camera applied to files and those used to create the propaganda for Atomwaffen.