This is the most serious incursion into Russia since the start of the war in February 2022. On Monday May 22, fighters from Ukraine, but claiming to be Russians, claimed responsibility for the attack in the Belgorod region, on the Ukrainian border. . The operation was claimed on a Telegram channel which presents itself as belonging to the “Freedom Legion for Russia”, a group of Russians, fighting on the Ukrainian side, who had already claimed to be at the origin of previous incursions into the same region. Another similar group would participate in the operation, the “Russian Volunteer Corps”.
Ukrainian media coverage of the Belgorod incursion featured a representative of the “Freedom Legion for Russia” going by the pseudonym “Caesar”. In a communication video, alongside other soldiers in his unit, he wears a military uniform on which hangs a Ukrainian flag, indicating that the scale of operations carried out by the two organizations “will increase over time”. But who are these soldiers fighting alongside Ukraine? Are they under direct orders from kyiv? For L’Express, Adrien Nonjon, doctoral student at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Inalco), and specialist in Ukraine and the post-Soviet far right, discusses the profile of those who make up these two units and their demands.
Bombings in the Russian region of Belgorod, where an incursion of “saboteurs” took place
© / afp.com/Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sabrina BLANCHARD
L’Express: Two groups claimed responsibility for the incursion into Russia, in the province of Belgorod, from Ukraine: the “Freedom Legion for Russia” (RDK) and the “Russian Volunteer Corps” (GRU). Who are these groups? What are their demands?
Adrian Nonjon: On the one hand, the “Freedom Legion for Russia” claims to be a form of democratism and progressivism. Its members say they want to restore the rule of law in Russia or even put an end to the hegemony of Putin’s power and ensure that the Russian state becomes democratic and transparent. They also have a rather extraordinary narrative that supports the fact that the legion would be made up of Russian prisoners of war, captured in the early days of the invasion. It is thus said that they would have realized their error and the futility of this war. They would therefore have decided to turn their jackets around and fight alongside the Ukrainians.
On the other hand, the “Russian Volunteer Corps” (RDK) is primarily made up of individuals who are experienced in combat. Among them, we observe for example the presence of Russian veterans of the years 2014, who were already fighting alongside the Ukrainians in different units, in particular in the first version of the Azov regiment. Their political coloring is much browner than the “Freedom Legion for Russia”. The “Russian Volunteer Corps” is made up of both monarchists, but also traditionalists, and radical neo-Nazis. Their political ambition is clearly to put an end to Russia as we know it today, that is to say the multicultural and multiconfessional Russia. They would like to create a state exclusively reserved for white Slavs and regularly denounce the way in which Putin has appropriated Russian nationalism. Moreover, they consider the nationalists who support Putin as traitors.
They are therefore two very distinct groups, with different initial ambitions, but they are now fighting together. Basically, it’s the fight against Vladimir Putin and everything he stands for that unites them?
Absolutely ! These two groups of fighters, which are first and foremost composed of Russians, have decided to take up arms alongside the Ukrainians in order to fight against the invading Russian forces. They share the same intention of overthrowing Putin’s regime and allowing Ukraine to recover the territories hitherto under occupation, mainly Donbass and Crimea. In other words, they claim to want to put an end to a war deemed “fratricidal” between Russians and Ukrainians, a war that is, in a way, eroding Russia as a whole and its society. But the similarities end there.
On August 31, 2022, they also signed a declaration, the Irpin declaration, in which it is mentioned that the two groups undertake to unite their efforts to overthrow the power of Vladimir Putin and put an end to this war.
Do we know how they are organized and how many are there?
As far as the “Russian Volunteer Corps” is concerned, there are two units, which are in reality overseen by two structuring political groups. On the one hand, there is the “WotanJungend”, a group of Russian neo-Nazis in exile since the 2010s in Ukraine. On the other, there is the “Russian Center”, which is a nationalist organization of traditionalist inspiration, even monarchist. To these are added a few hooligans. This group is made up of a few dozen people, a hundred members at most. Suffice to say that they do not weigh much.
As for the “Freedom Legion for Russia”, they claim two brigades, with about 2,000 men on the ground. However, it should be noted that their numbers are unclear. There is a desire to maintain the confusion so that we do not know, for the moment, how many men make up this formation, nor what their profile is. Nevertheless, at present, the strength of these units is only a drop in the water in the diagram of Ukrainian defense.
Did these groups emerge with the Russian invasion in February 2022 or did they exist before?
Let’s say that to answer this question, we have to look more at the level of individuals. Members of the “Russian Volunteer Corps” were in their majority in Ukraine long before February 2022, but they were not formed as a group. Some had already fought, notably alongside the Azov regiment, but in 2016 many had returned to a form of civilian life, with more political than military activism. Alexei Levkine, among the leaders of the RDK, is for example a former member of the Russian neo-Nazi group M8L8tx. Between 2016 and February 2022, he contributed to the ideological formations of certain executives and gave concerts with his black metal group.
On the side of the “Freedom Legion for Russia”, we find Denis Kapoustine, who is also its founder. He has a career in MMA, and he tried to build an international network, particularly in Europe with Germany and in the United States where he was in contact with a group of white supremacists. To answer the question, it was only after the Russian invasion that these people decided to take up arms and form a group of volunteers to defend Ukraine.
Are these units in direct contact with the Ukrainian army? In other words: do they obey the orders of the Ukrainian command?
That’s a big question! On paper, these are units that obey the orders of the Ukrainian general staff. They took part in the defense of kyiv in the early days of the invasion and can be found in the battles of Donbass and Kherson. There is clearly a form of subordination. Nevertheless, this does not exclude that these groups show initiative. As for the incursion into Belgorod, the Ukrainian General Staff does not recognize Ukraine’s involvement. We’re still in the thick of it, but we’ll have details later.
More specifically, are they armed by Ukraine?
Yes completely. Insofar as these are combat units which evolve alongside the various units and the Ukrainian territorial defence, it is perfectly normal that they receive donations from Ukraine, which result from international aid. However, their equipment must be put into perspective. In the images taken during the incursion into Belgorod, we observe light vehicles, sometimes even pick-ups. There is no heavy artillery, these are very small units.
In Ukraine, these units are therefore considered “volunteer” in defense, while in Russia, the “Freedom of Russia” Legion is classified as a terrorist organization. How are they understood by European countries and the United States?
Denis Kapoustine, who is therefore the founder of the “Corps” has already been at the center of the attention of many intelligence services, including the United States. For the moment, the general opinion is only aware of the existence of these groups alongside the Ukrainian defense. Obviously, many questions arise: will these groups be the subject of a stronger integration within the Ukrainian army? Do they plan to stay in Ukraine after the war?
I think we are only at the beginning of this affair, but the fact that these two groups are dominated by an extreme right ideology is paradoxical. The issues that revolve around the presence of these groups on the battlefield alongside Ukraine will quickly be put on the table, both by the Ukrainian and also Western authorities. At this time, we are only sticking to the symbol, which is that units essentially composed of Russians are entering Russia and liberating Ukrainian territories.