Legion “Freedom of Russia”: When Russians fight for Ukraine, Bolsonaro successor Lula refuses final conciliatory gesture

It is an unusual event that began on April 5 last year in a press room of the Interfax-Ukraine bureau: three unnamed soldiers, who appeared at the press conference in camouflage suits and masks, were invited. The weapon on her shoulder is the image of a fist. Their flag is neither Ukrainian nor Russian, it consists of white-blue-white horizontal stripes.

It is a protest symbol against the Russian offensive war, used mainly in Russia: protesters have replaced the red stripe on the Russian flag, which many see as a symbol of the Soviet past or blood, with a white one. And it is the symbol of the “Freedom of Russia” legion, in which Russians fight on the side of Ukraine.

At first, there would have been only about 100 Russian soldiers, but according to their own statements and the Ukrainian government, “Freedom of Russia” has grown significantly – and has gained prominent support as well. But many details remain vague: is the unit really an important building block in Ukraine’s defense – or is it more appearance than reality?

Founded in response to Irpin and Bucha

He was a soldier in the Russian army not so long ago, says one of three masked men at the press conference in April, who is introduced as the “commander”. In Ukraine, his unit soon came under heavy fire before he was arrested. Even then he realized that the mission was not a “special operation,” as the Kremlin had promoted.

While in captivity, he learned of the atrocities in Bucha and Irpin. “It became clear to me that it was a real genocide,” says the soldier. In response, he and other Russian soldiers created the “Freedom of Russia” legion to fight Vladimir Putin’s regime. Support was received from the SBU, the Ukrainian internal secret service.

Active on social media

On the one hand, the group is very open about what it wants and what it does: the Legion maintains channels on YouTube and Telegram, for example, with which it reaches more than a hundred thousand subscribers: the wreckage of a Russian drone is proudly presented there, which according to the Legion was shot down.

The soldiers explain their goals in a self-written manifesto: “We fight against the dictatorial regime of Vladimir Putin, against the violation of democratic values, the total corruption, the violation of human rights and the lack of freedom of expression,” it says. There.

Most messages include a reference to the applicant portal, which is intended to recruit new volunteers. It is said among the soldiers that they get about 300 questions a day. Oleksiy Arestovych, who works on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s advisory staff, said in May that the number of applicants was “going through the roof”.

Motivated fighters or targeted marketing?

However, it is difficult to say how important the unit actually is on the battlefields: “They are motivated and professional fighters who do their job perfectly,” an anonymous Ukrainian officer told AFP news agency at the end of December. At the front, the soldiers should mainly use artillery weapons. At its formation, it was said that the Legionnaires were primarily trained in the NLAW anti-tank system. In May, the group reportedly released footage showing them fighting for Sievjerodonetsk and Lysychansk in the Luhansk region.

For the Ukrainian military expert Oleg Zhdanov, on the other hand, the unit has less military and more political significance: “It is good for Ukraine if it can show that the Russians also support democracy and freedom and fight on the right side.” However, the Russian fighters “did not have much influence on the course of the war due to their small numbers”.

Fear of relatives and infiltration

In fact, in many places it remains unclear how many fighters actually belong to the “Freedom of Russia” legion. In August, the Moscow Times reported that the unit was able to deploy two full battalions, equivalent to more than 1,000 soldiers. Given the total number of foreign fighters for the Ukrainian army, that would be a fairly small number: In early March, the Foreign Ministry said the armed forces would be supported by nearly 20,000 volunteers from 52 countries.

There are two other reasons why the unit prefers to remain silent in many places: Many of the soldiers apparently fear for their relatives, most of whom are still in Russia. A soldier who introduced himself to US Time magazine as Vitya said he told his parents in Moscow that he was in Ukraine for blood donation and other relief efforts, but not to serve on the front lines.

At the same time, there are fears that Russian secret services could infiltrate the unit. The selection process must be correspondingly demanding: according to Oleksiy Arestovych, the applicants must, among other things, undergo two lie detector tests.

“Join Us”

Not all members are consistently silent, however: In June, the group published footage showing former vice president of Russia’s Gazprom Bank, Igor Volobuyev, during a target practice. After the Russian invasion in February, the former top manager clearly distanced himself from the Russian war and fled to Ukraine.

Volobuyev was born in the city of Oktyrka in eastern Ukraine. He had returned to defend his homeland, he told Reuters news agency after fleeing Kiev in late April. In the video featuring him, which the “Freedom of Russia” legion released a little less than six weeks later, the former banker wears a protective vest and military gear – and, in the spirit of his unit, recruits other comrades-in-arms: “If you hate Putin’s regime and want Russia to become a free, democratic country, join us.”