Putin Defectors Destroy Equipment in Belgorod: 'Russia Will Be Free'

A Russian anti-Vladimir Putin militia that crossed into the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine on Thursday said it has destroyed Russian military equipment, as the region's governor announced the evacuation of thousands of residents.

The Freedom of Russia Legion, formed weeks after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, posted aerial footage and photos on its social media channels that it said showed the "'demilitarization' of Putin's army in the Belgorod region."

"We destroyed a self-propelled mortar 2S4 'Tyulpan' and KAMAZ with their ammunition," the group, which is made up of defectors from the Russian armed forces, as well as Russian and Belarusian volunteers, said on Twitter.

Ilya Ponomarev, an exiled Russian politician who says he is the political representative for the Freedom of Russia Legion told Newsweek on Thursday that the group, alongside the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), had crossed into the border town of Shebekino. The RVC says its members include Russians fighting on Ukraine's side and against the Kremlin regime.

Ponomarev told Newsweek the next day that "active fights are ongoing" in Novaya Tavolzhanka, a suburb in Shebekino.

Meanwhile, Russian authorities said Thursday it had repelled an attempted incursion along its border, while Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said several districts were shelled, but denied "any enemies are on the territory of the Belgorod region."

The Legion published a photo Friday that it said shows their tank with its flag in Novaya Tavolzhanka. In an update on its Telegram channel, it said some of its members have been wounded, "but freedom is won with blood."

The partisan group also posted a video of one of its fighters on Twitter, who said: "Russia will be free."

Ponomarev previously told Newsweek that the Legion, which was declared a terrorist organization by Russia's Supreme Court in March, aims "to liberate Russia from Putinism."

Gladkov said on his Telegram channel Friday that more than 2,500 people are in temporary accommodation centers in the Belgorod region. He also said two women were killed after Ukrainian shelling struck a car.

The Legion blamed Russian forces for the deaths.

"Artillery fire is being used to cover any points where the movement of the Legionnaires and the RVC is detected. Near Tavolzhanka, the enemy destroyed a Renault car with civilians, mistaking it for one with our sabotage group. At least two civilians were killed and this is a direct consequence of the unprofessionalism of Putin's army," it said.

Newsweek has been unable to independently verify either claim and reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry via email for comment.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that attacks on Russia's Belgorod region are "unable to have any effect on the course of the military operation."

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