Russian governor alarmed as pro-Ukraine militias strike to ‘liberate’ border region
Joel Gehrke
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Russia has been forced to launch a “counter-terror operation” in the southwestern Belgorod region, where a pair of pro-Ukraine militias claim to be “liberat[ing]” border towns from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule.
“The situation here is extremely tense,” said Vyacheslav Gladkov, the Russian regional governor, per The Moscow Times. “I hope our military will finish the operation shortly and the territory of Belgorod region will be freed from the enemy.”
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That announcement came hours after reports of a brazen assault on a Russian border checkpoint, conducted by forces apparently in possession of a Ukrainian armored vehicle. The pro-Ukrainian militias, reportedly comprised of Russian volunteers who oppose Putin, claim to aspire “to liberate all of Russia” and force an end to the war in Ukraine.
“The Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps have liberated the settlement of Kozinka in Belgorod Oblast,” the Freedom of Russia Legion said on social media, per a Ukrainian media translation. “Their units have entered the settlement of Graivoron.”
Putin’s associates downplayed the operation as an attempt “to divert attention from the Bakhmut area and reduce to a minimum the political effect from the loss of Artyomovsk by the Ukrainian side,” in the words of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Yet the situation was severe enough to necessitate a “counter-terror operation” against the incursion.
“For the purposes of ensuring the security of citizens in the Belgorod Region, the legal regime of a counter-terror operation establishing special measures and temporary restrictions has been introduced in the Belgorod Region from today,” Gladkov, the regional governor, wrote on social media, per state-run TASS.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s team denied responsibility for the attack — “Ukraine is observing the events in Belgorod Oblast in Russia with interest and studying the situation yet has no direct relation to it,” presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak tweeted — and emphasized that it is being carried out by Russian defectors.
The attack is not the first on Russian territory. The Russian Supreme Court declared the Freedom of Russia Legion, which reportedly was founded by a former Russian lawmaker living in Kyiv, to be a “terrorist organization” in March, just weeks after Russian authorities accused the Russian Volunteer Corps of conducting a different raid.
“The situation is complicated. The Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps are creating a demilitarized zone on the border with the Russian Federation, so that [regular Russian forces] cannot attack Ukraine from that territory,” the Freedom of Russia Legion said in another post. “Moving forward, we aim to liberate all of Russia from Putin’s dictatorship and to put an end to the criminal war.”
In parallel, Ukrainian officials promoted their so-called “I Want to Live” project, an initiative designed to induce Russian soldiers to defect.
“I appeal to the Russian military, those who managed to survive in meat assaults and destroyed trenches: it will get worse. You have a choice: Die or save your life,” Ukrainian Major General Kyrylo Budanov, the defense ministry’s intelligence chief, said in a video published Monday, per the War Translated project. “You can end the war now, no need to wait to be killed or seriously wounded . . . Contact [the] ‘I Want to Live’ project and we will help to get you out of the meat grinder.”
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Another video apparently released by the Freedom of Russia Legion characterized the militia as a group of Russian citizens who don’t want their children to live “in a Russia where a person’s life means less than an official’s purse,” as they denounced the “corruption, lies, [and] censorship” under Putin.
“We are Russians, like you. We are people like you. We want our children to grow up in peace,” one man flanked by several armed colleagues said in a straight-to-camera shot, per a Reuters translation. ”It is time to put an end to the dictatorship of the Kremlin.”