A Russian anti-Vladimir Putin militia that crossed into the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine on Monday has captured some of Russia’s “trophy” equipment, Ilya Ponomarev, an exiled Russian politician who says he is political representative for the group of fighters, told Newsweek.
“They have captured a lot of trophy equipment,” Ponomarev, who was the only member of the Russian parliament to vote against Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, said from Kyiv, where he is now based.
Ponomarev was referring to the Freedom of Russia Legion, formed in March 2022, weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. It’s made up of defectors from the Russian armed forces, as well as Russian and Belarusian volunteers.
Courtesy of Ilya Ponomarev
The Legion crossed into Russia’s Belgorod region, alongside the Russian Volunteer Corps on Monday. It claimed to have seized the village of Kozinka and said that its units had entered the small town of Graivoron.
The Legion has so far captured four BTR-82A armored personnel carriers—Russia’s main armored vehicle, Ponomarev said. The vehicle is manufactured by the Military Industrial Company of Russia, and is used by the armies of Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Belarus.
Soldiers from the Legion are “entrenching” at the moment in Belgorod, said Ponomarev, suggesting that fighters are fortifying their positions in the region.
The exiled politician told Newsweek on Monday that the Legion, which was declared a terrorist organization by Russia’s Supreme Court in March, aims “to liberate Russia from Putinism.”
When asked whether the Legion’s fighters intend to enter other cities or regions in Russia, Ponomarev said: “We will see how it goes. [There are] not enough forces to liberate all of Russia at the moment.”
The number of fighters in the Legion is not known.
Shortly before news broke that the groups had crossed into Russia’s Belgorod region, the Legion published a video on its social media channels calling for an end to the “dictatorial country” run by President Vladimir Putin.
“We are Russians like you,” one member said in the video, standing in front a group of his comrades. “We want our children to grow up in peace and be free people so that they can travel, study and just be happy in a free country.”
Putin’s Russia is “rotten from corruption, lies, censorship, restrictions on freedoms and repression,” he said, adding that “the time has come to put an end to the dictatorship of the Kremlin.”
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, said “a sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” had penetrated the area, and that Russian authorities were “taking the necessary measures to eliminate the enemy.”
The Kremlin said Putin was aware of an attempt by a “Ukrainian sabotage group” to break through into the Belgorod region, while Ukrainian intelligence said that Russian Volunteer Corps and Legion fighters entered the region, to carry out an operation to create “a security zone to protect civilian Ukrainians.”
The Russian Volunteer Corps, formed in summer 2022 and led by known far-right ideologue Denis Nikitin, claimed responsibility for a recent incursion in Russia’s Bryansk region.
It said on its Telegram channel Monday that its fighters were in Russia, publishing a short clip showing members standing in front of road signs in the Belgorod region.
Newsweek has contacted Russia’s defense ministry via email for comment.
Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via [email protected].