There are a few hundred Russian civilians fighting among thousands of Ukrainians on the front line, sometimes for years, sometimes for a few months, having decided to fight alongside the Ukrainians against Moscow. Within the Siberian battalion (Sibir), created in 2023, we find anti-imperialists from all walks of life, Slavic Russians and those from ethnic groups in the east of the country. Little supported, or even ignored by the Russian opposition in the West, they are nevertheless the only ones to clearly side with Kyiv in what is for them a war against an entire system of oppression from which they come and which they intend to fight.
From our correspondent in Ukraine,
Some are returning from Belgorod, where they took part in the first incursions into Russian territory last March, others from the Kinburn peninsula in the south of the country.Ukrainewhere with other soldiers they participated in offensives this summer… But these soldiers, who are fighting on the Ukrainian side, have the particularity of being citizens of the Russian Federationagainst which they wage war. They are part of the Siberian Battalion (Sibir) and although their backgrounds are diverse, they share the conviction that they had to take up arms against their own country.
” There are still only a few of us, but we have made our choice, loudly proclaims Walther, around fifty years old, who joined the battalion in the fall of 2023. The Siberian battalion and other military units composed of citizens of the Russian Federation have chosen their weapons. And I urge all those who hate the Putin regime to help and participate in this. »
Wounded during the battle of Avdiivka, Walther deplores the West’s excessive complacency towards Moscow since the invasion of Georgia : ” If in 2008 all European politicians had acted in unity and had introduced at least a tenth of the sanctions against Russia that were introduced after February 24, I think that neither 2014 nor 2022 would have happened. The rat would have been stopped at the very beginning of its journey. Unfortunately, the history of Hitler’s Second World War has repeated itself. ” he laments.
Maloy, in his twenties, is one of the young recruits in the battalion. He is originally from the Republic of Bashkortostan and has already participated in several operations, including the Belgorod incursions alongside two other formations of Russian soldiers in Ukraine. This was last March, well before the Kursk operation. The operation turned out to be much more complicated than initially planned, but it was successful: the Russian losses were quite significant: the opposing brigade that was in our direction lost about half of its officers. »
This support from some Russians for the Ukrainian defense is far from insignificant: for many recruits of the Siberian battalion, it supports their own aspirations for independence, those of the minorities of the Russian Federation, such as the Bashkirs, but also the Buryats or the Yakuts.
” The only country that can help us liberate our republic is Ukraine »
Alongside Walther and Maloy is Kypchak, also a Bashkir. Aged around forty, he left Russia and his liberal profession at the time of the large-scale invasion – for him, supporting the struggle of the Ukrainians also means supporting the liberation of his own people. One of my motivations for coming here and helping Ukraine resist Russian aggression is precisely the understanding that we can fight the regime only by supporting other peoples, he says. In other words, the example of Chechnya shows that one republic alone is not capable of fighting Moscow. Today, the situation is such that, perhaps, the only country that can help us liberate our republic is Ukraine. Ultimately, our goal is quite selfish: by helping Ukraine, we hope that in the future, with the support of so-called civilized countries, we will be able to liberate our republics. »
Every month, new recruits arrive in Ukraine – about twenty of them – after a long recruitment process, the Russians deemed fit and trustworthy embark for training in combat techniques. We see the young people communicating with their older brothers in arms, who tell them what war is, that it’s ugly, that it’s scary, that death is scary, says Batya, a Ukrainian veteran among their trainers. But their motivation does not decrease, they want to fight, to train in a very conscious way, to prepare. The previous generation tells them what to pay attention to, and we give them tactical skills. “.
Every month, the Siberian battalion grows – for Walther it is also a question of honour for those Russians who say they are opposed to the Kremlin regime: ” There is an expression: “a slave’s collar is always lighter than a warrior’s armor”. But even if I die, I will know that I have not lived this life in vain. I will die for a just cause. You have a chance to become human and look at yourself in the mirror without shame. Think about how your children will grow up and what they will say to you: Mommy, Daddy, where were you at that moment? »
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