Three groups of Russian defectors serving with the Ukrainian Armed Forces have urged President Vladimir Putin to evacuate the country’s border regions of Belgorod and Kursk as they prepare to shell the positions of troops in the area.
The warning was issued in a joint statement on Wednesday by three Ukraine-aligned military units—the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Siberian Battalion and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK)—who said they had crossed into Russian territory a day earlier, and that they captured the village of Tyotkino in the Kursk region, less than 3 miles from the border with Ukraine.
“Every day, dozens of ordinary innocent Ukrainians (mostly women and children) die from shelling from Belgorod. The shelling of Ukraine from the territory of Belgorod must stop!” said the statement posted on Telegram. “In this regard, we are forced to inflict fire on military positions located in Belgorod. To avoid civilian casualties, we urge everyone to leave the city immediately.”
The Freedom of Russia Legion—formed weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022—and the RDK have entered Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine on multiple occasions throughout the war. The Siberian Battalion, formed in October 2023, joined the two groups for the first time this week.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said Tuesday that 234 saboteurs were killed during the incursion attempts.
SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP/Getty Images
“We appeal to our fellow citizens: residents of the city of Belgorod, officials of the Belgorod administration and all those who hear us,” the statement said. “Putin’s killers are carrying out massive attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities, placing their positions between your homes, your children’s schools and government institutions.”
The militia groups added: “We call on local authorities to save human lives and begin evacuation from the cities of Kursk and Belgorod regions.”
Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment by email.
On Tuesday, Alexei Baranovsky, a volunteer of the Freedom of Russia Legion who goes by the call sign “Lutik,” told Newsweek that an operation was launched “with united forces of Ukraine’s Russian volunteer units crossing the border together.”
Putin’s forces, Baranovsky said, “did not expect these breakthroughs in two separate regions simultaneously, so let’s see how this situation unfolds.”
The ultimate goal of the rebels, he said, is “the ensuing liberation of Russia from Putin. We may not be able to pull it off now, but that is our overarching mission.”
Baranovsky declined to disclose the number of participants in the cross-border raid but said: “We have more than enough people to achieve the highest military objectives,” calling this week’s operation “our most ambitious operation to date.”
He added: “”This marks a new milestone for the resistance movement, and in the coming months we will continue to set more complex goals for our missions. Hopefully, one day we will reach the main one—the destruction of Putin and his regime.”
The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, said in its latest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine that Russian milbloggers have noted that the incursion came as Russia is preparing for its March 15-17 presidential election.
“Several Russian milbloggers warned that there might be additional incursions in the coming days,” the think tank said.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.