– I am not fighting against my home country. I fight against Putin’s regime, against evil. This is what “Caesar” says to AFP. That’s not his real name. He keeps his name secret to protect his relatives in Russia. Caesar is one of many Russians standing shoulder to shoulder with the Ukrainians in the war against Putin’s bloody attacks. These Russians belong to the “Freedom for Russia” legion fighting for the Ukrainian military. The Russian Legion stands with the Ukrainians. Photo: LEAH MILLIS / Reuters It is not known how many there are. Last October, Caesar told the Ukrainian Kyiv Post that there were two battalions and that a third was being recruited. The number of soldiers in a battalion can vary from 400 to 1,200. But according to CNN, the legion should only have around 200 soldiers. – The Legion now has over 5,000 applicants who want to join, but we do not accept all of them, Caeser told the Ukrainian online newspaper. There is a thorough process to select the soldiers. Soldiers from the Legion inform soldiers in the field which targets to attack with drones. Photo: LEAH MILLIS / Reuters The recruits go through several rounds of interviews, psychological tests and even a lie detector. – At the beginning of the war there were many prisoners of war. But it is not in the second battalion, where I am a member, says Caesar. The third battalion also includes those who were recently mobilized by Russia, but who went over to Ukraine’s side. Some of the soldiers are now fighting at the town of Bakhmut on the eastern front line, the scene of months of bloody fighting. – I am not a traitor. I am a true Russian patriot who thinks about the future of my homeland, says Ceasar (50) to AFP. Caesar describes himself as a right-wing nationalist, and believes that Putin can only be removed by force. – Russia is dying. Go to the villages, you will see drunk people, drug addicts, criminals. People suffer. After the invasion, Caesar moved from Russia to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with his wife and four children. – They live in fear of the bombs and the cold, but they agree with my choices, he says of the family. Caesar is upset that the Russians have destroyed a monastery in Dolyna in eastern Ukraine. Photo: SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP Igor Volobuev, former vice-president of Gazprombank, is also with the legion, writes The Guardian. The bank is Russia’s third largest bank. There is great personal risk for Russians who switch sides. In November, Yevgeny Nuzhin escaped from the Russian mercenary group Wagner. He defected to the Ukrainian side and was brutally murdered with a sledgehammer when he returned to Russia. Many soldiers are afraid of being exposed. The picture has been slandered by the Legion’s Telegram account. Photo: TELEGRAM/LEGIONOFREEDOM The white and blue flag is used by Russian anti-war demonstrators both inside and outside the country. It imitates the Russian flag, but the red band at the bottom of the Russian flag has been changed to white. Another soldier in the legion calls himself “Tikhiv” which means “Quiet”. He is married to a Ukrainian woman and has two children. The family lived in Russia, but they happened to be in Kyiv when the invasion started. Then he chose his wife’s country. He signed up for the Ukrainian military after he saw the atrocities committed by Russian soldiers in the suburbs of Bucha, Irpin and Borodjanka, just outside Kyiv. – Dead people, children, women… When you see it in person, of course everything inside you turns upside down, says Tikhiv to CNN. His best friend has recently been forcibly mobilized into Russia’s army back home, according to Tikhiv. They can end up on opposite sides of a battlefield. – It is strange that it could happen, especially since he wants to leave Russia and would come to fight with me against Putin’s army in Ukraine. He says that his friend is trying to escape from the military, but he has not succeeded. Tikhiv hopes not to meet his best friend on the battlefield. Photo: SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP Tikhiv has barely had contact with his family in Russia since the fighting began. – They have been a little brainwashed. But I know they are worried about me, he says. He has applied for Ukrainian citizenship, but he won’t be able to get it until after the war is over. – At the moment I still have the enemy’s passport, he says. Tikhiv wants to become Ukrainian, but he only has Russian citizenship and a Russian passport. Photo: SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP The members of the “Freedom for Russia” legion all have their own motives for enlisting, some of them more personal than political, according to Ukrainian military expert Oleg Zhdanov. He believes that the legion has little military significance, because they are few. – Their contribution means much more away from the games, says Zhdanov. On social media, the legion mainly posts propaganda videos and claims to have received thousands of applications. – Their importance is more political. It is good for Ukraine to be able to show that there are Russians who support democracy and freedom, says Zhdanov to AFP. Here the legion is fighting in Donetsk. Photo: LEAH MILLIS / Reuters
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Russians are fighting for Ukraine – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
