It appears that members of Russia’s Freedom Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps managed to cross the border earlier this week with a number of combat vehicles and several dozen soldiers. With chaos in the Belgorod region as a result.
“They are very strict about admitting newcomers because they don’t want spies or saboteurs.”
“Although it’s not yet clear what their exact purpose was,” says De Decker. “It could have been an ammunition depot forty kilometers from the border. But maybe they just wanted to know how far that border between Russia and Ukraine is manned by soldiers.’
If that was their intention, according to the journalist, they have succeeded magnificently in their intent. “They pulled a stunt that no one saw coming.”
Legion Press Group
Last December, De Decker spent two days with the Freedom for Russia legion in eastern Ukraine. “It was sort of a press trip organized to publicize that legion. They do it to get into the media and attract lenders.
Among other things, De Decker met prisoners of war who had been captured in the Ukraine and then decided to fight against Russia. «But also deserters from the Russian army and Russians who want to fight for a free future. So very different profiles.’
When the reporter was there late last year, it numbered around several hundred people, “roughly between 500 and 1,000.” But there would be many more people on the waiting list. They are very strict about admitting newcomers because they don’t want spies or saboteurs.”
More people want to join
However, it would not surprise De Decker if many more people wanted to join after this campaign. ‘They see that they can achieve something. It was a small action but of great symbolic impact. It was an effective way to weaken Russia.”