Belgorod Conundrum: Pro-Ukraine anti-Putin saboteurs sting Russia, strike behind enemy lines
Freedom of Russian Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps claimed to have liberated at least two villages — Kozinka, and Gora-Podol — in Belgorod region
Freedom of Russian Legion, an anti-Kremlin militia group, have been serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Twitter/@RussiaLegion.
Is Russia under attack from its own anti-Putin citizens or is Ukraine playing truant? The ‘Freedom of Russian Legion’ and ‘Russian Volunteer Corps’, have struck deep inside Russian territory, deep behind enemy lines.
The mission of Freedom of Russian Legion, an anti-Kremlin militia group, serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, is “to liberate Russia from Putin-ism.”
But, they have come to assume a unique position in this Russia-Ukraine war since Ukraine has denied all and any involvement in these attacks inside Russian territory—these fighters are Ukrainian when in Ukraine, but Russian saboteurs when operating inside Russia.
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Formed weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began in February last year, these Russian fighters claimed to have seized settlements in the Belgorod region, situated close to the Ukrainian border.
They have claimed to have liberated at least two villages — Kozinka, and Gora-Podol — in the region.
A few hours ahead of shelling on Monday evening, Ukrainian news outlets reported that a message was broadcast on radio station saying that Belgorod will soon “become free.”
Legion of Free Russia also released a video statement on Monday morning on its Telegram channel, claiming the soldiers storming Belgorod are Russians who want to liberate Russia from Putin.
“Stay at home, do not resist, and do not be afraid: We are not your enemies. Unlike Putin’s zombies, we do not touch civilians and do not use them for our purposes. Freedom is near,” the video statement mentioned.
Later on Monday, Legion claimed on its social media that it had, alongside the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), “completely liberated” the settlement of Kozinka in Russia’s southwestern region of Belgorod, and that its units had entered Graivoron.
At least eight people were injured in the shelling that damaged an administrative building, several residential apartments, and a kindergarten in the area, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
According to a report by CNN, the situation in Belgorod marks “the first time” that Ukrainian-aligned forces have launched “a cross-border land operation against Russian targets.”
The RVC and Legion fighters entered the Belgorod region and carried out an operation to create “a security zone to protect civilian Ukrainians,” confirmed the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.
“The events in the Belgorod region and other border areas are the result of a full-scale invasion and aggressive war of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s Russia against Ukraine. Yes, citizens of the Russian Federation, namely the forces of the [RVC] and the Legion took responsibility for these events,” Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency GUR, said.
Situation in Belgorod remains tense
Gladkov, in a live-streamed addressed late on Monday said: “The situation remains extremely tense. A sabotage and reconnaissance group, the Ministry of Defence and all law enforcement agencies have entered the territory to carry out combat missions to protect our country.”
The governor further said that “most of the population left the territory” with personal transportation. The local government is also providing assistance to those who do not have the opportunity to leave on their own.
What is the Freedom of Russia Legion?
The Freedom of Russia Legion has a few hundred Russian volunteers fighting against their own people as part of the Ukrainian armed forces. They are made up entirely of Russian army defectors, as well as other Russian and Belarusian volunteers.
The group has been there for just over a year but it has already caught Kremlin’s attention.
In March, the Supreme Court of Russia declared the Legion a terrorist organisation. Despite that, the fighters’ have been actively involved in Bakhmut, the sight of some of the fiercest battles since the start of the invasion.
A report by CNN quoted a member of the group saying that he had dedicated his life to topple Putin and march into Red Square and the Kremlin itself.
Ceaser is a former teacher, a father and has a wife staying in Kyiv. He is a devoted member of the Orthodox Church and is nostalgic for the Tsarist era that predated the Soviet Union.
He informed that his unit is well-equipped with modern armored vehicles, gunsights and the latest automatic weapons.
The Legionnaires admitted that on several occasions Ukrainian soldiers treated them with suspicion but they hoped to win them over with gallantry on the battlefield.
What Russia is doing against the Legion?
Putin is aware of an attempt by a “Ukrainian sabotage group” to break through into Belgorod, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
“Work is underway to squeeze them out of Russian territory and destroy this sabotage group,” Peskov added.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson went on to say that Russian forces have been working to push out the Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group from the territory of the Russian Federation and destroy it.
“There are enough forces and means,” he said.
With inputs from agencies
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