The Siberia Battalion and the Freedom Legion of Russia (LSR) claim to have carried out military attacks in western Russia near the border with Ukraine. This is reported by Reuters, with reference to the groups’ social media.
– We will take our country from the regime, centimeter by centimeter, says a member of the Freedom for Russia legion.
They also claim that they have taken “full control” over the village of Tyotkino.
“The Russian Federation cannot be overthrown peacefully”
The groups claim to consist of Russian citizens who voluntarily fight for Ukraine in the war against Russia. One of the members of Freedom for Russia confirms to the Kyiv Post that they carried out attacks on Russian territory. Among other things, a Russian armored military vehicle in the Kursk region is said to have been attacked.
– We are here to free you from poverty and fear, to free you from the dictatorship imposed by a terrorist organization that seized power, reads the statement.
At the same time, the Siberia battalion has also entered Russian soil. A video posted on Telegram shows several soldiers opening fire on what are claimed to be Russian soldiers on Russian soil.
“We have always maintained that the criminal dictatorial regime in the Russian Federation cannot be overthrown peacefully. It can only be dismantled through armed resistance. Tonight, we begin to fulfill that promise,” they write, according to the Kyiv Post.
Previous attacks
According to reports received by the Russian Telegram channel Zhest Belgorod, Russia claims that its air defenses detected and shot down eight drones over the area.
Russian military bloggers have reported armed forces trying to break into Belgorod using pickup trucks, grenade launchers and other artillery. In social media, information that two civilians were injured in the attacks has spread, but this has not been officially confirmed.
Ukraine’s intelligence service tells Ukrainian media that the legions are acting independently.
– In Russia, they have the right to do whatever they consider necessary in this situation to protect their civil rights and free their country from Putin’s dictatorship, says spokesman Andrej Yusov, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Similar attacks have been carried out in the past since full-scale war broke out in 2022.
In May 2023, two Russian legions, including Freedom for Russia, crossed the border into the Belgorod region with two tanks, an armored car and nine other armored vehicles.