Indigenous sovereign citizen group leader Bruce Shillingsworth holding a kangaroo skin declaration with Russia Consul-General Igor Arzhaev (Image: Facebook)

Members of an obscure Indigenous sovereign citizen group have met with Russian officials in Australia, claiming they discussed establishing “diplomatic relations” and giving support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

On Saturday, Bruce “Buddy” Shillingsworth of the United Sovereign Nations of Terra Australis group met with Russian Consul-General Igor Arzhaev and other Russian diplomats at the consulate in Sydney. The Facebook page for the Russian consulate in Sydney posted a photograph of the meeting. The photo’s caption was translated by Facebook from Russian into English.

“March 18, the Consul-General of Russia in Sydney IN Arzhaev met with representatives of the Indigenous people of Australia. The event was held in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere,” it read.

(Image: Facebook)

But Shillingsworth claims the meeting went further than that. On Instagram, he posted a picture of himself and Arzhaev posing with a kangaroo skin inked with his group’s declaration of sovereignty.

“Yaama, Today A Landmark Moment At The Russian Consulate To Sit And Discuss Diplomatic Relations. #HouseOfLore Lore Enforcement”, the post’s caption read.

Shillingsworth’s group is an anti-vaccine, conspiracy-fuelled group associated with the anti-government freedom movement, which has been accused of “blackfishing” the Indigenous sovereignty movement in Australia. The group was involved in the 2021 fire at Old Parliament House. Shillingsworth was present and was charged with abetting arson. 

The Russian consulate did not respond to emails or answer the phone for further information about the meeting. Shillingworth directed Crikey to an article written in Russia’s news agency EurAsia Daily (an outlet that has been called “a worker bee in the Kremlin’s information war”). 

Crikey was unable to find the article online, but a mirrored copy of it hosted by oopstop.com wrote that Shillingsworth’s delegation “expressed support for a special operation to denazify Ukraine”. 

The article includes a statement reportedly given by Shillingworth and his group: 

“We, the Indigenous peoples, hereby declare to the Russian people that we oppose the transfer of Australian weapons, troops and assets by the government to Ukraine. The Australian prime minister has already sent $700 million worth of weapons to Ukraine, paid for by Australian taxpayers. On top of that, the government wants to spend $368 billion on submarines at obscenely high prices. We tribes disagree!

“As the traditional custodians of this land, we have not given permission to send weapons, troops and money to a war that does not involve Australia. As a sovereign people, we express our solidarity with the Russian-speaking peoples of Donbass, who are the indigenous inhabitants of the land on which they are fighting, and who are denied the right to self-determination, the right to even speak their native language, and have been terrorised by the illegal neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv for eight years without a single word of condemnation from the Australian government. We bring peace and friendship to the Russian people. We implore the Australian government to engage in diplomacy and stop sending money and weapons to Ukraine.”

Australian National University College of Law Associate Professor Ron Levy acknowledged that a country conducting a diplomatic meeting with a group claiming sovereignty could be the first step towards broader international recognition of sovereignty status. However, in this case it was extremely unlikely, he said. 

“I don’t think that this would count. There is only a very, very preliminary move and there isn’t a broad movement around the world to match it,” he said.

He said Russia’s influence in diplomatic relations had been undercut by their invasion: “In the context of Ukraine, Russia is on the outs with the international community. There’s an overwhelming vote to condemn them.” 

Levy said that international recognition of sovereignty is heavily influenced by domestic recognition, pointing to the Voice to Parliament referendum as one potential step.