Who are the Russian saboteurs fighting on the Ukrainian side?

The incursion of sabotage units into the Russian region of Belgorod, for which two Russian armed groups opposed to the Kremlin claimed responsibility, brought to the fore the role of Russian volunteers fighting in the ranks of the Ukrainian side.

He Russian Volunteer Corps and Russian Freedom Legionwhich claims responsibility for the attack, assured this Wednesday that during the sabotage the day before they managed to advance up to 42 kilometers through the Russian border area, while the Kremlin insists that the rebels have been defeated and warns that “it will respond strongly” to “terrorist attacks”, according to to what his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said These are the two groups that threaten Russia:

Russian volunteers

Ultranationalists. The Russian Volunteer Corps is a paramilitary formation established in August 2022 by the Russians Denis Nikitin and composed of ultranationalists, most of whom have been fighting since 2014 as part of the Ukrainian Azov Battalion. Some sources attribute ties to neo-Nazi groups.

The fundamental principle of this organization is intolerance towards any kind of cooperation with the heirs of the Soviet regime, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, who, according to them, is trying to “destroy the Russians as an ethnic group”. They openly defend the single-national Russian state. They claim to be the heirs of the white-ideal movement of Russian emigrants, which was created in the thirties of the last century by emigrant Viktor Larionov, a staunch enemy of the Bolshevik government.

According to various media, in 2022 the Russian Volunteer Corps participated in the fighting in the Ukrainian regions of Zaporozhye and Donetsk. However, they gained media attention after two attacks on the Russian region of Briansk in March and April 2023, along with an attack on the Belgorod region, according to the Efe agency.

FREEDOM FOR RUSSIA

Deserters and emigrants. The Legion of Freedom for Russia was formed in March 2022, shortly after the start of the Russian campaign in Ukraine, from deserters from the Russian armed forces, as well as Russian and Belarusian emigrants without military experience.

This formation, whose goal is “repelling Russian aggression in Ukraine and overthrowing the regime of Vladimir Putin”, has two battalions, and has participated both in battles in the east of the country and in sabotage actions on Russian territory. “We are Russians like you (…) and we take up arms to defend our freedom and yours”they assured in the video after the attack on Belgorod.

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.