Anti-Putin Russian paramilitaries launch cross-border attack

At least two paramilitary units made up of Russians fighting against Vladimir Putin have launched attacks into Russia from Ukraine.

The Freedom of Russia Legion (FRG) and the Siberian Battalion (SB) announced on Telegram that they launched an incursion across the western border.

Footage shows at least a dozen fighters entering the Kursk and Belgorod regions, but Metro.co.uk could not independently verify the claims.

Another video circulating on X shows a Russian armored vehicle being destroyed in a strike in the village of Tetkino, in Kursk.

FRL claimed responsibility for the attack, part of its work to ‘remove the criminal dictatorial regime in Russia’.

Russian military bloggers reported that some 50 volunteers tried to enter from the direction of the village of Odnorobivka, Kharkiv Oblast.

It was reported that they were forced to return after Russian soldiers opened fire on the units. 

‘We will take our land from the regime centimetre by centimetre,’ the Freedom of Russia Legion said in a post.

FRL was created in the summer of 2022 to provide a way for Russians opposing to the invasion to fight alongside Ukrainians.

A video of a volunteer with the SB showed him dressed in a military uniform with Ukrainian insignia.

Two fighters from the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRG) (Picture: X/”Liberty of Russia” Legion)

A screengrab reportedly showing a tank belonging to the legion crossing the border

He says: ‘Address of the soldiers of the Siberian Battalion to the citizens of Russia.

‘It will not be possible to overthrow the criminal dictatorial regime in Russia peacefully.

‘It can only be removed with weapons in hand. Tonight we began to fulfill our promise. There are fierce battles on the territory of Russia.’

In the past, Russian officials have described the groups as puppets of Ukraine and US.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence, told Ukraine’s 24 Channel the groups were conducting the operation on Russian territory independently of Ukraine.

Yusov said a third group, the Russian Volunteer Corps, was also participating in the operation.

The legion’s post appeared to refer to the upcoming Russian election, which will take place this weekend.

‘The people will vote for whom they want, not for whom they have to. Russians will live freely,’ the group said.

The Freedom of Russia legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps have previously claimed responsibility for other cross-border raids into Russia from Ukraine. 

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