Russian fighters chose to desert and fight alongside Ukrainian troops. They notably condemn Vladimir Putin, considered a despot.
They chose to switch sides. Russian soldiers from a dissident legion, “Freedom for Russia”, decided to join Ukrainian soldiers and fight alongside them, especially in the region of Bakhmout, in Ukraine. One way to fight Vladimir Putin, considered a despot. They confide to be deserter russian fighters.
Present in the Bakhmout region, they fight in particular the Wagner group, this private militia defending the interests of Vladimir Putin.
“Where are the bad Russians? A kilometer and a half? Two?”, launches a soldier on the forehead. Often located on the front line, these soldiers are located only two kilometers from the Moscow troops.
Engage against Putin
Faced with journalists from all over the world, these soldiers want to show that one can both be Russian and engage against Vladimir Putin, despite the risks involved.
“I’m worried, but even the cost of my family’s life won’t make me take a single step back,” said one of them, dressed in a khaki jumpsuit.
Another recounts having gone to Ukraine before the start of the war. From kyiv, he then attends the Boutcha massacres and D’Irpin.
“What I saw there shocked me a lot. I thought the Russian army was made up of men of honour,” says Tikhiy.
These images decide him to enlist in a foreign legion. Among them, many Russians, but also Georgians and Chechens.
“I fight for the freedom of the Russian people”
But this commitment is not without consequences for some soldiers. Tikhiy recognizes a misunderstanding on the part of his relatives who remained in Russia, to the point of creating a chasm between them.
“At the beginning, I told them ‘it’s very hard what’s going on here’. They answered me: ‘It doesn’t matter, we’ll come and free you soon’. After that, I stop talking to them,” he said.
Pointed out by some Russians, these soldiers who have gone over to the enemy camp are considered traitors by some and the object of Ukrainian propaganda by others. These fighters, however, ensure that they do not forget their country.
“I fight not only for Ukraine, but also for the freedom of the Russian people. By doing this, I am a patriot, I am not a henchman of Putin”, affirms one of them.
They would be more than 500 Russians to want to fight against their own country or at least against its leader Vladimir Putin.
Original article published on BFMTV.com
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