Just when you thought the war in Ukraine couldn't get any more insane than it already is, a group of Russian Army defectors just brazenly took over some border towns inside Russia, and with armoured vehicles. Belgorod is a fairly major Russian city, close to Kharkiv in Ukraine. Assuming they don't have a deathwish, their raid inside Russia is likely meant as a wake-up call for ordinary Russians that they're actually in a real war, and is a major embarrassment for the Kremlin.
Source: Newsweek
A group comprised of defectors from the Russian Army and aligned with Ukraine's military has called for an end to the "dictatorial country" run by Vladimir Putin.
The video message was released on Monday by the Freedom of Russia Legion which was set up soon after Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The group is made up of former Russian Army members, as well as other Russian and Belarusian volunteers who have not previously been members of military formations.
In the video filmed at night from an undisclosed location, an unnamed soldier stands in front of a group of his comrades, some of whose faces have been blurred. He starts by saying, "We are Russians like you," suggesting that he is seeking support from citizens in Russia to end Putin's regime.
"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," he said. This was impossible in Putin's Russia which is "rotten from corruption, lies, censorship, restrictions on freedoms and repression."
He describes how in Russia, "a person's life is worth less than an official's wallet," and how children are "separated" from their parents "for calling for peace."
This is likely a reference to the student Masha Moskaleva from Yefremov who drew a picture showing opposition to the invasion in an incident which was followed by her father's arrest and her being sent to an orphanage.
And what of this invasion of those Russian border towns?
