What is Freedom of Russia which claimed responsibility for Belgorod attack?

On Monday, eight people were injured in attacks on Russia’s Belgorod. While the governor of the region Vyacheslav Gladkov blamed a Ukrainian  ‘sabotage and reconnaissance group’, Ukraine said it was not involved. Meanwhile, the “Freedom of Russia Legion” took responsibility for the attack and claimed it had even ‘liberated’ a settlement.

An organization calling themselves "Freedom of Russia Legion" published a video on their Telegram channel.

"The time has come to put an end to the Kremlin dictatorship! Be brave and have no fear because we are coming home! Russia will be free!" They said after criticizing… pic.twitter.com/9a7p31em82

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) May 22, 2023

But what is the Freedom of Russia legion? Let’s take a closer look: Origins The Freedom for Russia Legion is an anti-Putin militia that is based in Ukraine.

Comprising only Russian fighters, its stated aim is to overthrow Russian president Vladimir Putin.

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The group was created shortly after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as per RFERL. [caption id=“attachment_12603082” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The group says its aim is to overthrow Vladimir Putin. Reuters[/caption] Their manifesto states that they are “free citizens of Russia who take responsibility for themselves and are beginning to fight for a New Russia.”

The Freedom of Russia legion is led by ex-lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov.

Ponomaryov is currently in Kyiv. Russian historian and political analyst Dr Sergey Radchenko on Monday said the militia is likely a “special project of the Ukrainian military intelligence,” as per Inews. How many are they? According to CNN, the group is made up of a few hundred ‘battle-hardened’ volunteers who are part of the Ukrainian armed forces. One fighter, with the military callsign ‘Caesar’, said he is a former teacher and a father. His wife is currently in Kyiv. Caesar last year told CNN he was devoting his life to overthrowing Putin and that he wanted to march into the Red Square and the Kremlin itself. Caesar added that he is a ‘devoted member’ of the Russian Orthodox Church and that he misses the Tsarist era which predated the Soviet Union. Caesar’s unit is equipped with all the latest high-tech toys – modern armoured vehicles, gunsights and the latest automatic weapons, as per CNN. According to The New York Times, hundreds of these fighters are in an around Bakhmut. While they are always together, they are commanded by Ukrainian officers. Why are they fighting? It isn’t just anti-Putin sentiment that spurred them to take up arms against their own. Members of the legion also cite the actions of their countrymen in Ukraine as a reason for taking up arms. [caption id=“attachment_12631952” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] An apartment block on fire in the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP[/caption] Tikhy, who was already living and working on a construction site Kyiv, told RFERL he couldn’t believe Russia was actually invading Ukraine. “Only after the third rocket flew by did I understand what was happening. I gathered up my family and we hid in the basement,” Tikhy, from Tolyatti said. “A real Russian man doesn’t engage in such an aggressive war, won’t rape children, kill women and elderly people,” Caesar, who is from St. Petersburg, told The New York Times.

“That’s why I don’t have remorse. I do my job and I’ve killed a lot of them.”

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“We haven’t come here to prove anything,” said one soldier with the call sign Zaza. “We’ve come here to help Ukraine achieve the full withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory and the future de-Putinization of Russia.” “I’m done with Russia. I don’t even want to hear about it after what they did in the Kyiv region and elsewhere,” Tikhy told RFERL. Some told the newspaper they were already in Ukraine when the invasion kicked off. Others crossed the border after feeling a sense of injustice. “We haven’t come here to prove anything,” another soldier with the military call sign ‘Zaza’ told the newspaper. “We’ve come here to help Ukraine achieve the full withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory and the future de-Putinization of Russia.” Zaza told the newspaper he first got into trouble for speaking against the war in his university and then on social media. But it was only when Russia’s security service turned up did he know he was in serious trouble. “At such a young age, it is a little early for me to talk about my political opinions and worldview, because these are just forming now,” he said. “But when your country has been taken over by one bad man, you need to take things into your own hands.” Ukraine’s authorities have praised the legion. “They are fighting very well… it’s like a separate unit disguised as the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, was quoted as saying in May by Inews. [caption id=“attachment_12530482” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. AP[/caption] The legion’s standard is a blue-and-white-striped flag – the so-called ‘free Russia’ flag’ popular with Russia anti-Putin Opposition groups. According to CNN, the group on Monday posted a video on Telegram showing this flag – aided by balloons – flying over Moscow University. “Thanks to those who support and wait for us!” said The Freedom of Russia Legion’s caption on Telegram. “‘L’ [Legion] For Russia! For freedom!” Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communication tweeted:

The "Russian Volunteer Corps" and the Legion "Freedom of Russia" are conducting an operation on the territory of the #Belgorod region. Ukraine welcomes the resolute actions of the opposition against the criminal and aggressive Putin regime.

— SPRAVDI — Stratcom Centre (@StratcomCentre) May 22, 2023

Russia’s Supreme Court on 16 March labelled the legion a terrorist group, as per RFERL. That, just a month after a request from the Russian prosecutor general’s office to do so, according to the New York Times. The legion responded to the decision on Telegram by saying, “Funny. The terrorist country turns the tables and stubbornly fights all expressions of free-thinking.” This means Russian citizens fighting for the legion could face up to two decades in jail, as per Moscow Times.

According to TASS, 20 members of the legion are already under investigation.

In January, a 22-year-old was given five years of hard labour for attempting to join the legion, as per Moscow Times. ‘Russia will be free’ The group on Twitter it had “completely liberated” the border town of Kozinka and forward units had reached the district centre of Graivoron, further east. “Moving on. Russia will be free!” it wrote. Belgorod regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov imposed a “counter-terrorism regime” allowing authorities greater powers to clamp down on people’s movement and communications. In a late-night post on Telegram, Gladkov said that in two separate attacks houses and administrative buildings where damaged in two towns in the region, Borisovka and Graivoron. Telegram channels monitoring Russia’s military activity, including the blog Rybar, with more than a million subscribers, said buildings housing the Interior Ministry and the FSB security service had come under attack in the region’s main town, also known as Belgorod.

Gladkov made no mention of the alleged attack on Belgorod.

The Telegram channel Baza, which has links to Russia’s security services, had earlier published aerial footage apparently showing a Ukrainian armoured vehicle advancing on the Graivoron border checkpoint. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had been informed, and that work was under way to drive out the “saboteurs”, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. In Telegram postings earlier in the day, Gladkov said the Russian army, border guards, presidential guard and the FSB were in the operation. He said at least eight people had been wounded and three houses and an administrative building damaged. In a briefing streamed on social media, he said many residents had left, either in buses or their own vehicles, and that he had imposed a “counter-terrorist operation” regime. Under expanded powers, authorities were authorised to limit activities and movement and to suspend or restrict communication services including mobile networks and the internet. Ukrainian outlet Hromadske quoted Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov as saying the operation would create a “security zone” to protect Ukrainians from attacks by Russia. The Kremlin said the incursion aimed to distract attention from the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, which Russian forces claim to have captured in its entirety after more than nine months of attritional fighting. “We understand perfectly well the goal of such a diversion - to divert attention from the Bakhmut direction and minimise the political effect of Bakhmut’s loss for the Ukrainian side,” Peskov was quoted as saying. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.