Explained: Who are the anti-Kremlin armed teams claiming assaults on Russia’s border areas?
Three teams of fighters purporting to be Ukraine-based Russians – the
Freedom of Russia Legion, Russian Volunteer Corps and Siberian
Battalion – declare to have launched incursions into Russia this week.
The teams stated they crossed into Belgorod and Kursk and have been engaged in battles there, in assaults Kyiv says have been carried out independently of Ukraine.
Fighters carrying navy fatigues seemingly used superior weaponry and tanks to storm the areas.
Moscow sees them as “terrorist formations”.
Here’s what we learn about every group…
Freedom of Russia Legion
The FRL was fashioned in March 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “out of the want of Russians to battle along with the Ukrainian folks in opposition to Putin’s armed gang”.
It claims to be “formally recognised” by Ukraine and fights alongside the nation’s defence forces.
The group is reportedly made up of former Russian servicemen and Russian residents who travelled to Ukraine via third nations.
It beforehand claimed duty for an attack on the Belgorod area in May final 12 months, saying that it had been combating in japanese Ukraine.
Russian Volunteer Corps
Far-right Russian nationwide Denis Kapustin based the RVC in August 2022.
The group is primarily made up of Russian residents combating for Ukraine in opposition to their very own nation. It states on its web site that it’s not a part of the Ukrainian armed forces and depends on donations.
The RVC says its principal targets are to revive Ukraine’s 1991 territorial integrity and overthrow the “dictatorship” in Russia.
RVC vowed to battle in tandem with the Freedom of Russian Legion final 12 months “regardless of a distinct ideological base”.
The US-based advocacy group the Anti-Defamation League has described Mr Kapustin
as “a neo-Nazi”.
Siberian Battalion
The Siberian Battalion was based in autumn 2023 because the third unit for Russian nationals who wish to battle in opposition to the Kremlin.
It largely contains representatives of the indigenous peoples of Siberia.
Some members instructed Reuters final October they have been indignant at what they stated was Russia’s destruction of indigenous cultures, and claimed to be unfairly focused for mobilisation.
