{"id":23218,"date":"2022-08-09T13:17:42","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T20:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=23218"},"modified":"2022-08-09T13:17:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T20:17:43","slug":"switching-sides-the-elusive-russian-legion-fighting-with-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2022\/08\/09\/switching-sides-the-elusive-russian-legion-fighting-with-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Switching Sides: The Elusive \u2018Russian Legion\u2019 Fighting With Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

August 8, 2022 (themoscowtimes.com)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Freedom of Russia Legion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Kremlin\u2019s war against Ukraine is one many Russians don\u2019t want to fight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And some are so vehemently opposed that they are apparently prepared to take up arms against their country and fight alongside the Ukrainian army.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Freedom of Russia Legion claims it was formed in March, when over 100 Russian soldiers gave themselves up to Kyiv\u2019s forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI ended up in this war anyway. I thought I would either die as an occupier and murderer or die with a good conscience. So I switched sides,\u201d said a 26-year-old former Russian soldier turned legion member who asked to be referred to by his nom de guerre of Arni. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with ex-soldiers, the legion is apparently also made up of Russians who traveled to Ukraine alongside other foreigners to fight with the Ukrainian army in the months after the invasion. It is one of many units \u2014 from Georgians to Belarusians \u2014 operating as part of the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine set up by Kyiv at the start of the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, unlike other national units, the Freedom of Russia Legion is shrouded in secrecy \u2014 from its exact size to where it has fought \u2014 with some even claiming the lack of information suggests it\u2019s little more than a Ukrainian PR project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Freedom of Russia Legion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In what it described as a \u201cmanifesto,\u201d the legion pledged in April to \u201cfight for a new Russia\u201d and get rid of \u201c[President Vladimir] Putin\u2019s dictatorial regime.\u201d Soldiers in the unit use the white-blue-white flag that has become a popular symbol of Russia\u2019s anti-war movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arni, who spoke to The Moscow Times on a video call during which he covered his face with a mask, said that he decided to join the legion to fight for \u201cthe light side.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the legion\u2019s most closely guarded secrets is its size, with estimates placing it anywhere from several hundred to over 1,000 soldiers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said<\/a> in June that the group had a \u201cfew hundred\u201d members. But the legion claimed last month it consisted of two \u201cfully manned battalions,\u201d which could potentially mean more than 1,000 fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exact information on numbers of soldiers is \u201cclassified,\u201d according to Arni. But he said about 300 requests for joining the unit are submitted every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean that that amount of people join us on a daily basis. We must review those requests, plus [Russian] intelligence services are trying to spam us,\u201d the soldier said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Freedom of Russia Legion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The unit is active on social media and its accounts together have more than 94,000 subscribers. In a June video, the group claimed it had supporters across Russia who were helping spread information on how to become a member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another soldier, who spoke to The Moscow Times on the same video call as Arni, said he traveled from Russia to Ukraine to join up in April. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI took the risk because I want to fight against Putin. I want a free Russia,\u201d said the 25-year-old soldier, who claimed he was in Ukraine and gave his nom de guerre as Professor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he was a postgraduate student at a university \u201csomewhere\u201d in central Russia and began to support the opposition following the Moscow protests<\/a> of 2019 and the arrest of opposition activist<\/a> Yegor Zhukov. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the war started in February, he felt \u201cashamed\u201d and \u201ccouldn’t stay away, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The majority of the legion\u2019s members keep their identities a secret out of fear of reprisals and to protect their families, which makes it impossible to independently verify their accounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of masked men who said they were legion members told an April press conference in Kyiv that they were former Russian soldiers, but refused to give any information about their Russian units or where they had served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legion, which admits it recruits in PoW camps in Ukraine, has posted videos of Russian prisoners giving their names, denouncing the Russian regime and pledging allegiance to the legion. It is unclear if these men were under duress at the time and one video shows a soldier with what looks like cuts to his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\n\t\t\t\t\tScreenshot
Screenshot \/ Interview with the Freedom of Russia Legion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The most high-profile member of the group is Igor Volubuev, a former executive at state-owned Russian bank Gazprombank. Born<\/a> in northeastern Ukraine, Volubuev lived most of his life in Moscow, but fled to Ukraine after the invasion and announced in June he was joining the legion to help make Russia \u201ca free democratic country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volubuev declined two interview requests from The Moscow Times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to its size, there is also little information about where the legion has been involved in combat. The legion claimed its soldiers arrived in eastern Ukraine in May, with footage on its Telegram channel apparently showing battles near the eastern Ukrainian cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The secrecy surrounding the legion has led some to assert that it may not be what it seems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere might be some [Russian] fighters, but whether it is organized in the way it is presented remains an open question,\u201d Illia Ponomarenko, defense and security reporter at The Kyiv Independent, told The Moscow Times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent report<\/a> in Harper\u2019s Magazine described how Ukraine did not have the capacity to process and deploy foreign fighters who flocked to the country in the weeks after the invasion, and suggested foreign units were more PR than reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\n\t\t\t\t\tRally
Rally in support of the Freedom of Russia Legion in Toronto, Canada.Freedom of Russia Legion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ponomarenko said the fate of foreign fighters in Ukraine depended a lot on the military unit with which they ended up becoming affiliated, as well as their commanders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clearer with the International Legion \u2014 there is a large number [of foreign soldiers] and they did take part in combat, for example, in Irpin, Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk,\u201d he said. \u201cBut little is known about the [Freedom of Russia] legion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State-controlled Russian media and pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have questioned the existence of the legion altogether, calling<\/a> it a fake or alleging it was created<\/a> by Ukrainian intelligence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet at the same time, the Russian authorities have detained at least three men for being associated with the legion, according to media reports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia toughened<\/a> treason laws last month and those who fight against the country \u201cin an armed conflict, hostilities, or other actions\u201d can now be jailed for up to 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the risks if they are caught by Russian forces, fighting for Ukraine obliges those enrolled in the legion to confront a moral dilemma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have some resistance inside me,\u201d the soldier who called himself Professor admitted to The Moscow Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI realize there are guys like me on the other side. But I cannot go against my principles \u2014 I want my country to be free and democratic.\u201c\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Contributed by Gwyllm Llwydd)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

August 8, 2022 (themoscowtimes.com) The Kremlin\u2019s war against Ukraine is one many Russians don\u2019t want to fight.  And some are so vehemently opposed that they are apparently prepared to take up arms against their country and fight alongside the Ukrainian army.\u00a0 The Freedom of Russia Legion claims it was formed in… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23218"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23219,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23218\/revisions\/23219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}