Ukraine claims that a military unit of Russian opponents is "operating in Russia"

@DefAviation ES 5·02·2022 · 21:52 0

The Russian invasion of Ukraine could be taking a surprising turn, judging by an announcement made a few hours ago by the Ukrainian government.

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Ukraine notes the appearance in Russia of branches of the 'Freedom of Russia' Legion

As reported today by the Ukrainian media outlet 5.ua, Alexey Arestovich, advisor to the President of Ukraine, has announced that branches of the "Freedom of Russia" Legion have appeared in the Russian Federation, made up of Russians fighting against the Putin regime. Arestovich has added that branches of that Legion have appeared in different regions of Russia, and has declared: "We do not control it."

The 'Freedom of Russia' Legion: Russian opponents who want to overthrow Putin

The "Freedom of Russia" Legion was presented on March 11 through its Telegram channel, through a manifesto in Russian addressed to all Russians, and specifically to the "military of the Russian Armed Forces, Rosguard, employees of the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation." The signatories of the manifesto declared themselves to be "Russian soldiers, sergeants, ensigns and officers who refused to carry out the illegal orders of the war criminal Putin and surrendered." The manifesto added:

"We realize that the Putin regime brought the war to Ukrainian soil and we were the executors of its criminal orders.

We are aware that the Russian army, following the illegal orders of Putin, is now bringing destruction and suffering to the Ukrainians.

We realize that at this moment, thanks to Putin, Russia has become a pariah for the whole world, that Putin's tyranny has plunged the Russian people into poverty, ignorance and backwardness.

We realize that the Putin regime, in the guise of Russia and our people, could plunge the world into nuclear war."

The manifesto announced the start of an "armed resistance to this criminal regime and to form a legion of volunteers 'Freedom of Russia'", and encouraged Russian civilians and military to join "our armed struggle against Putin and his regime."

Photos of the training of the Legion 'Freedom of Russia'

At first glance, it could be a psychological warfare operation, but on March 29, the "Russian Freedom" Legion published photos of Russian soldiers wearing blue Ukrainian armbands and Russian EMR (also known as Digital Flora) digital camouflage uniforms being trained by a Ukrainian military in the use of NLAW anti-tank missile launchers. The text accompanying the photos read: "the commanders of the Legion units got acquainted with the operational situation on the fronts and expressed the general desire of all volunteers to carry out the first fight against the chain dogs of the regime of Putin: Kadyrov", referring to the Chechen dictator and the Islamist militiamen he has sent to Ukraine to support Putin's army.

The next day, March 30, the "Freedom of Russia" Legion published another series of photos, this time training in the use of the American M72 LAW grenade launcher.

On March 31, the Legion released a new series of photos

Finally, on April 5 at 2:00 p.m., several commanders of the "Freedom of Russia" Legion presented the unit at a press conference held at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency in kyiv. The commanders wore the blue and white white flag that Russian opponents have been using since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, and the coat of arms of the Legion: a white fist with the words "Свобода России" (Freedom of Russia) on a black background.

The Legion wears Ukrainian uniforms and the white blue and white flag

A day later, on April 6, the Legion published several photos showing soldiers in Russian uniforms receiving Ukrainian uniforms and the emblems of the Legion: "From now on, we will fight for Russia against the Putin regime in Ukrainian military uniforms with the symbols of our new Russia. For Russia! For freedom!", the text attached to the photos indicated.

Putin opponents encourage Russian soldiers to join the Legion

On April 10, the Legion announced the distribution of leaflets to the advanced positions of the Russian Armed Forces, explaining the signal they have to make to join their ranks. The Telegram post added: "We call on all our Russian officers and soldiers to seize this opportunity and follow the instructions in the brochure to join the Russian Freedom Legion." In Russian text, the leaflet instructs Russian soldiers to lay down their arms, surrender to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and indicate that they want to join the Legion.

The FSB and the Russian high command try to curb defections to the Legion

On April 13, the Legion reported that they were receiving many requests to join them from Russia, but that some candidates were captured by the FSB, Russia's counterintelligence service. The Legion reported that each candidate would be provided a route to join them, and was surprised by the number of requests. Three days later, the Legion announced: "The Red Commissars have already received training manuals from Moscow on how to prevent the voluntary transition of soldiers to the side of freedom", referring to instructions from the Russian high command to prevent them from going overboard soldiers to the ranks of the Legion.

On April 17, the Legion appealed to Russian officers and generals, recalling: "In August 1991, the Tamanskaya and Kantemirovskaya guards divisions, during the coup in Moscow, went over to the side of the people and thus they put an end to the State Emergency Committee, they saved the country from the dictatorship and a bloody civil war." The manifesto added: "The 'Freedom of Russia' Legion is ready to join the units and subunits of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to liberate our Homeland from the Putin regime and facilitate the transfer of power in Russia to the popular government." It was a clear call for a military insurrection against the Russian dictator.

Legion fighters ready to go into combat in Ukraine

More recently, the Legion has published photos of two of its members with an NLAW missile launcher, announcing the formation of "anti-tank units" within that unit of Russian volunteers.

On April 29, the Legion released a video of its soldiers, announcing: "After almost two months of training, units of the Russian Freedom Legion today moved to areas of combat operations in eastern Ukraine. We thank the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the trust placed in us and promise to justify it in combat."

The appearance of graffiti in support of the Legion in the Moscow region

Last Saturday, the volunteer unit published photos of graffiti in favor of the Legion on trains of the Russian state company RZhD, which appeared on April 28 in the Moscow region.

The wave of great sabotage that Russia is suffering on its own soil

Parallel to the formation of this unit, acts of sabotage are taking place inside Russia. Yesterday, the official Russian agency Tass reported the destruction of a railway bridge on the Sudzha-Sosnovy Bor line. Likewise, this Sunday a fuel depot caught fire in Mytishchi, north of Moscow. On April 25, another fuel depot had already caught fire in Bryansk, near the Ukrainian border, without the causes being known at the moment. Today there have been new explosions of fuel depots in Belgorod, also near the border with Ukraine.