Their exact number is strictly confidential, their positions inaccessible, and their speech rehearsed.
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Russians are fighting with Ukrainian soldiers in the Donetsk region (east) within a very symbolic legion called “Freedom of Russia”.
When their spokesman “Caesar” meets journalists, he usually takes them to the ruins of an Orthodox monastery in Dolina, an area occupied by the Ukrainian army in the autumn.
The shattered golden dome, the stucco lion amidst the rubble, the scattered religious icons provide the perfect backdrop to “show the world what Putin’s values are.”
“Caesar”, a pretty face with steel blue eyes, recites appropriate sentences in Russian and sometimes also in English. “I’m not fighting against the Fatherland, I’m fighting against Putin’s regime, against tyranny.” “I’m not a traitor. I am a true Russian patriot,” he reiterates.
The Legion of Russian Fighters, formed at the beginning of the war, whose emblem is a closed fist surmounted by the words “Freedom” and “Russia”, is part of the International Volunteer Corps within the Ukrainian Army.
According to “Caesar”, it has “several hundred” Russians who, after two months of training, will be deployed in May in Donbass, the mining region in eastern Ukraine that Moscow wants to conquer completely.
In particular, his men are stationed in Bakhmout, one of the hottest spots on the Eastern Front, the scene of several months of bitter fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops.
Essentially engaged in artillery, they are under the command of Ukrainian officers.
“They are motivated and professional fighters, they do their job perfectly,” said a Ukrainian official on condition of anonymity. The recruits were subjected to numerous interviews, psychological tests and even a lie detector to avoid any risk of infiltration, he explains.
political significance
On social networks – Telegram, Twitter, Instagram… – the “Freedom of Russia” legion mainly posts propaganda videos and claims to have received thousands of applications.
“They take part in the war, but because of their small numbers, they don’t have much of an impact,” said Ukrainian military expert Oleg Zhdanov. “Their importance is more political in nature. It is good for Ukraine to be able to show that there are Russians who support democracy and freedom and are fighting on the right,” he concludes.
Exactly who the “Russian patriots” that make up the Legion are and their motivations is difficult to ascertain. For Tikhiy, a worker from Togliatti, the Russian automotive capital 800 kilometers south-east of Moscow, they seem more personal than political.
The forty-year-old with the round face comes from a mixed family. His wife, whom he met in Russia, is Ukrainian.
“She wouldn’t have understood that we were staying in Russia,” said the father of two, who was visiting his family in Kyiv at the time of the invasion. They never returned to Russia and he joined the Ukrainian Army as part of the Legion.
He has almost no contact with his family in Russia, who don’t understand his choice. “We brainwashed them. But I know they care about me.
And he broke up with his friends. “They sit on their couch in Russia and repeat: We will liberate Ukraine,” he jokes.
Without regret, without hesitation, he says he considers the Russian soldiers “enemies” and is “rather blown up with a shell than captured” by Moscow’s troops.
Tikhiy has applied for Ukrainian citizenship, but he won’t get it until the war is over. “At the moment I still have the enemy’s passport.”
“right-wing nationalist”
“Caesar,” the narrator, is originally from Saint Petersburg, where he was a physiotherapist. Lui claims to have political motives and presents himself as a “right-wing nationalist” who believes that the only way to overthrow Vladimir Putin’s regime is by force.
He has no faith in his opponents – “all of them puppets,” as he says – and believes that his compatriots “don’t want to see or hear anything.”
The man suddenly comes to life: “Russia is dying. Go to the villages, you will see drunks, drug addicts and criminals. People are suffering,” he says.
“This is the result of 20 years of Putin. His system, his government, his MPs, it sucks. They are losers, corrupt, thieves who think only of living in money and pleasure. You can’t govern a country like that,” he complains.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 was the trigger, he brought his wife and four children to Kyiv. “They too live in fear of bombing and the cold, but they agree with my decisions,” explains Caesar, who speaks openly now that his family is “safe” in Ukraine.