The Kremlin’s battle in opposition to Ukraine is one many Russians don’t need to combat.
And a few are so vehemently opposed that they’re apparently ready to take up arms in opposition to their nation and combat alongside the Ukrainian military.
The Freedom of Russia Legion claims it was fashioned in March, when over 100 Russian troopers gave themselves up to Kyiv’s forces.
“I ended up on this battle anyway. I believed I’d both die as an occupier and assassin or die with a very good conscience. So I switched sides,” stated a 26-year-old former Russian soldier turned legion member who requested to be referred to by his nom de guerre of Arni.
Together with ex-soldiers, the legion is seemingly additionally made up of Russians who traveled to Ukraine alongside different foreigners to combat with the Ukrainian military within the months after the invasion. It’s considered one of many models — from Georgians to Belarusians — working as a part of the Worldwide Legion for the Protection of Ukraine arrange by Kyiv firstly of the battle.
Nonetheless, in contrast to different nationwide models, the Freedom of Russia Legion is shrouded in secrecy — from its actual dimension to the place it has fought — with some even claiming the ignorance suggests it’s little greater than a Ukrainian PR venture.
In what it described as a “manifesto,” the legion pledged in April to “combat for a brand new Russia” and eliminate “[President Vladimir] Putin’s dictatorial regime.” Troopers within the unit use the white-blue-white flag that has turn out to be a preferred image of Russia’s anti-war motion.
Arni, who spoke to The Moscow Instances on a video name throughout which he coated his face with a masks, stated that he determined to affix the legion to combat for “the sunshine facet.”
One of many legion’s most carefully guarded secrets and techniques is its dimension, with estimates putting it wherever from a number of hundred to over 1,000 troopers.
Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Oleksiy Arestovych stated in June that the group had a “few hundred” members. However the legion claimed final month it consisted of two “absolutely manned battalions,” which might doubtlessly imply greater than 1,000 fighters.
Precise data on numbers of troopers is “labeled,” in keeping with Arni. However he stated about 300 requests for becoming a member of the unit are submitted day-after-day.
“It doesn’t imply that that quantity of individuals be part of us every day. We should evaluation these requests, plus [Russian] intelligence providers try to spam us,” the soldier stated.
The unit is lively on social media and its accounts collectively have greater than 94,000 subscribers. In a June video, the group claimed it had supporters throughout Russia who had been serving to unfold data on learn how to turn out to be a member.
One other soldier, who spoke to The Moscow Instances on the identical video name as Arni, stated he traveled from Russia to Ukraine to affix up in April.
“I took the chance as a result of I need to combat in opposition to Putin. I need a free Russia,” stated the 25-year-old soldier, who claimed he was in Ukraine and gave his nom de guerre as Professor.
He stated he was a postgraduate scholar at a college “someplace” in central Russia and started to help the opposition following the Moscow protests of 2019 and the arrest of opposition activist Yegor Zhukov.
When the battle began in February, he felt “ashamed” and “could not keep away, he stated.
Nearly all of the legion’s members preserve their identities a secret out of worry of reprisals and to guard their households, which makes it unimaginable to independently confirm their accounts.
A bunch of masked males who stated they had been legion members advised an April press convention in Kyiv that they had been former Russian troopers, however refused to present any details about their Russian models or the place that they had served.
The legion, which admits it recruits in PoW camps in Ukraine, has posted movies of Russian prisoners giving their names, denouncing the Russian regime and pledging allegiance to the legion. It’s unclear if these males had been below duress on the time and one video exhibits a soldier with what seems like cuts to his face.
Probably the most high-profile member of the group is Igor Volubuev, a former government at state-owned Russian financial institution Gazprombank. Born in northeastern Ukraine, Volubuev lived most of his life in Moscow, however fled to Ukraine after the invasion and introduced in June he was becoming a member of the legion to assist make Russia “a free democratic nation.”
Volubuev declined two interview requests from The Moscow Instances.
Along with its dimension, there may be additionally little details about the place the legion has been concerned in fight. The legion claimed its troopers arrived in japanese Ukraine in Could, with footage on its Telegram channel apparently exhibiting battles close to the japanese Ukrainian cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.
The secrecy surrounding the legion has led some to claim that it will not be what it appears.
“There could be some [Russian] fighters, however whether or not it’s organized in the way in which it’s introduced stays an open query,” Illia Ponomarenko, protection and safety reporter at The Kyiv Impartial, advised The Moscow Instances.
A current report in Harper’s Journal described how Ukraine didn’t have the capability to course of and deploy overseas fighters who flocked to the nation within the weeks after the invasion, and recommended overseas models had been extra PR than actuality.
Freedom of Russia Legion
Ponomarenko stated the destiny of overseas fighters in Ukraine depended quite a bit on the army unit with which they ended up turning into affiliated, in addition to their commanders.
“It’s clearer with the Worldwide Legion — there’s a massive quantity [of foreign soldiers] and so they did participate in fight, for instance, in Irpin, Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk,” he stated. “However little is understood concerning the [Freedom of Russia] legion.”
State-controlled Russian media and pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have questioned the existence of the legion altogether, calling it a faux or alleging it was created by Ukrainian intelligence.
But on the similar time, the Russian authorities have detained no less than three males for being related to the legion, in keeping with media stories.
Russia toughened treason legal guidelines final month and those that combat in opposition to the nation “in an armed battle, hostilities, or different actions” can now be jailed for as much as 20 years.
Other than the dangers if they’re caught by Russian forces, combating for Ukraine obliges these enrolled within the legion to confront an ethical dilemma.
“I’ve some resistance inside me,” the soldier who known as himself Professor admitted to The Moscow Instances.
“I understand there are guys like me on the opposite facet. However I can’t go in opposition to my ideas — I would like my nation to be free and democratic.“
