Russia He assured this Tuesday that he “crushed” with his air force and his artillery a group of fighters that ventured from Ukraine towards the Russian border region of Belgorod. This is the most serious incursion of pro-Ukrainian soldiers on Russian soil since the start of the conflict.
(See also: Zelensky meets with G7 leaders, who urge China to ‘push’ Russia)
The authorities established that fighters from Ukraine attacked several towns in the Belgorod region on Monday.with artillery and drone shots that, according to the Russian authorities, forced the inhabitants to flee.
(Read here: Zelensky visits the front to celebrate the Day of Ukrainian Seamen)
The Kremlin expressed its “deep concern” and urged redoubling “efforts” to prevent these incursions.which add to a series of attacks on Russian soil, at a time when Ukraine is preparing a major offensive.
What is striking about this episode, moreover, is that the raids were carried out by soldiers born in Russia, but who have openly demonstrated against the Kremlin. One of these movements is the so-called Freedom for Russia Legion.
Shortly after the incursion became known, the Russian Ministry of Defense assured in its war diary that the Russian military had surrounded and annihilated the nationalist armed formations that entered Russian territories.
“The rest of the nationalists were repelled to the territory of Ukraine, where the shelling […] continued until their total elimination,” added the ministry, which stated that “more than 70 Ukrainian terrorists” were killed.
The rest of the nationalists were repelled to the territory of Ukraine, where the shelling […] continued until its total elimination
This information could not be verified at the moment by the international agencies that are present in the area.
Shortly after, the governor of the region of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov announced the uprising of the “anti-terrorist” regime decreed the day before.
The measure is a legal tool that gives expanded powers to the security forces to carry out armed operations, carry out controls among the population and carry out evacuations, which was used in Chechnya from 1999 to 2009.
However, the group of volunteers stressed that the attack in Belgorod on Monday “disrupted once again the myth that Russian citizens are safe and Russia is strong”, by not ruling out future actions.
These attacks put under the magnifying glass who are the main Russian fighters who are on the side of Ukraine. Next, we explain what these groups are and what is known about them.
Russian Volunteer Corps
The Russian Volunteer Corps is a paramilitary formation founded in August 2022 by Russian Denis Nikitin and made up of ultranationalists, most of whom have fought since 2014 as part of the Ukrainian Azov battalion.
This organization’s fundamental principle is intolerance towards any type of collaboration with the heirs of the Soviet regime, including President Vladimir Putin, who, according to them, seeks to “annihilate the Russians as an ethnic group”.
They declare themselves heirs of the “White Idea” movement of Russian emigrants created in the 1930s by the emigrant Victor Larionov, a staunch enemy of the Bolshevik government.
According to various media, in 2022 the Russian Volunteer Corps participated in fighting in the Zaporizhia and Donetsk regions of Ukraine. However, they gained media relevance after two attacks against the Russian Briansk region in March and April 2023, and the most recent in the Belgorod region, where they took over several towns.
Freedom for Russia Legion
The Freedom for Russia Legion was formed in March 2022, shortly after the start of the Russian campaign in Ukraine with defectors from the Russian Armed Forces, as well as Russian and Belarusian emigrants with no military experience.
This formation, which aims to “repel Russian aggression in Ukraine and overthrow Vladimir Putin’s regime”, has two battalions, and has participated both in combat in the east of the country and in acts of sabotage on Russian territory.
Among its members is the former vice president of the Russian bank Gazprombank, Igor Volobuyev, of Ukrainian origin, who joined the formation in June 2022, after leaving Russia.
The legion starred, together with the Russian Volunteer Corps, in the raid on May 22 in the Belgorod region.
National Republican Army
The National Republican Army (NRA), which took its name from the Irish IRA, made its name in the early months of the war in Ukraine with several attacks on recruiting offices in different parts of Russia.
According to former Russian deputy Iliá Ponomariov, exiled in Ukraine, the NRA carried out the bomb attack in August 2022 that killed Daria Dugin, daughter of one of the ideologues of Russian ultranationalism, Alexandr Dugin, the target of the attack.
In April 2023, the murder of the well-known Russian military blogger Vladlén Tatarski was also attributed, who died in a restaurant in Saint Petersburg when a statuette that had an explosive device inside exploded.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With AFP and Efe
#Russian #soldiers #fighting #Ukraine #worry #Moscow