Freedom of Russia Legion says they are creating a “demilitarised zone” in Russia

The Freedom of Russia Legion, whose fighters claim to be fighting on the side of Ukraine, said its goal was to create a “demilitarised zone” in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast.

Source: Freedom of Russia Legion in a commentary for Suspilne, Ukraine’s public broadcaster

Quote from the Freedom of Russia Legion: “The situation is complicated, the Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps are creating a demilitarised zone on the border with the Russian Federation, so that [regular Russian forces] cannot attack Ukraine from that territory.

Moving forward, we aim to liberate all of Russia from Putin’s dictatorship and to put an end to the criminal war.”

Details: The Freedom of Russia Legion said this in relation to the videos they shared on the morning of Monday, 22 May, in which its fighters claim to have “liberated” the Russian villages of Kozinka and Gora-Podol, and to have started an assault on the town of Grayvoron in the Belgorod Oblast.

The Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps announced earlier that they were “liberating” settlements in Belgorod Oblast from the current Russian government. They asserted that the villages of Kozinka and Gora-Podol were just the beginning, and that their goal was to “liberate” all of Russia.

Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed that a “sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces” had entered the Grayvoron district.

For reference: The Freedom of Russia Legion is a military unit within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and consists allegedly of Russian prisoners of war, defectors of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as other Russian volunteers who have sided with Ukraine.

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