Members of the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Legion of Freedom for Russia pose for photos in Kharkiv, northeast Ukraine Photo: EFE/EPO/SERGEY KOZLOV
Last week, two Russian armed groups opposed to President Vladimir Putin made headlines in the news about the war in Ukraine when an attack erupted in Russia’s Belgorod region, bordering Ukrainian territory.
These groups claimed they had managed to advance 26 miles (42 kilometers) into Russian territory and denied reports from the Kremlin that their members had been killed by Russian forces.
Moscow has called them “Ukrainian saboteurs” and “terrorists,” but Ukraine has said it was not involved in the armed robbery and confirmed the two groups’ claims that the attack was carried out by Russian nationals.
“Ukraine is following events in Russia’s Belgorod region with interest and analyzing the situation, but has nothing to do with it. As you know, tanks are sold in every Russian military store and secret guerrilla groups are made up of Russian citizens,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Two armed groups reportedly took part in the action in Belgorod: the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) and the Legion of Freedom for Russia, which declared their goal to “liberate” the country from Putin.
In March, the RVC filed a lawsuit for the first time against an attack in the Russian region of Briansk (also on the border with Ukraine). Although Russia claimed the group took hostages at the time, the RVC denied this, saying the raid was only intended to incite Russians to revolt against the government.
Also in March, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB, one of the KGB’s successors) accused the group of attempting to organize an operation to kill Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeev, a Putin supporter. The leader of the RVC is Denis Kapustin or Denis Nikitin, who had ties to neoNazi groups denounced by a Ukrainian investigative website.
The Legion of Freedom for Russia was reportedly formed in March 2022 after Zelenskyy called for volunteers from around the world to help Ukrainian forces respond to the Russian invasion.
“As for ideology, [a Legião] it is confusing. They have nothing to do with the Russian Volunteer Corps, a wellknown farright protoNazi militia with whom they appear to have fought alongside in the attack on Belgorod,” Stephen Hall, a Russia expert at the University of Bath, told France 24.
The analyst stressed that the actions of the two groups were “very important” for Ukrainian propaganda.
“Its very existence shows that the Russians are fighting Putin directly and sends the message that the regime should be aware of and fear possible actions in the country.” That’s why some say it [esses
grupos] could be a PR campaign for Ukraine. AND
[simplesmente] too perfect,” said Hall, who stressed that this ambivalent relationship between cooperation and independence from the Ukrainian armed forces helps Kiev conduct incursions into Russian territory.
“What the Kiev Legion is offering is [a possibilidade de] “A plausible denial when it comes to talking to Western countries about something that happened on Russian soil,” Hall reasoned.
A minor threat at the moment
In an interview with People’s GazetteMilitary analyst and retired Colonel Paulo Roberto da Silva Gomes Filho said it was “quite likely” that the two groups would receive Ukrainian support, although the Ukrainian government denies this.
“The vehicles of American origin used in the action in Belgorod would hardly reach the groups without Ukrainian participation. Moreover, the members themselves have already stated that they are coordinating their actions with the Ukrainian Armed Forces. It’s good to point out that this is nothing new. There are numerous historical examples where opposing armies trained and stirred up displeasure on the other side, leading to insurgency and resistance movements. “The French and Italian partisans in World War II were an example of this,” Gomes Filho pointed out.
However, the exact strength of these two groups is unknown. In press interviews, their leaders have indicated that both initially number “hundreds” of men, which is unlikely to be a major headache for Putin given the firepower of one of the world’s largest armies.
“I believe these are very early movements that, while they may cause concern in Russia, divert some of their attention from the main theater of operations efforts.” [na Ucrânia]”They are still far from posing a serious threat to the Putin government on their own,” Gomes Filho said.
Therefore, the analyst does not believe that Putin can use the actions of the RVC and the Legion of Freedom for Russia to justify an escalation of the war in Ukraine at least for now.
“He can even use it [como justificativa], but only if there is some very spectacular action, something in Moscow that I don’t think these groups are capable of. “As long as they are limited to these oneoff attacks on border towns, I think it is very unlikely that Putin will use this for any kind of escalation,” argued the expert.
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