Russian-Ukrainian Conflict: Partisan Groups’ Impact on Upcoming Elections

2024-03-15 14:34:00

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As of: March 15, 2024, 3:34 p.m

By: Sarah El Sheimy

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Fighting between the Russian military and pro-Ukrainian partisan groups is still ongoing. They call on the people of Russia to make the “right choice”.

Kursk/Belgorod – “Legion of Freedom of Russia” and “Siberian Battalion” – these are the names of the two militias that dared to cross the border with a military strike once morest Russia. In the groups, partisans from Russia fight alongside the Ukrainian military once morest the Russian army. This week their attacks were dominated by the Russia election at the weekend.

On March 12, the Legion of Freedom of Russia and the Siberian Battalion claimed to have attacked Russia from Ukraine. These are places near the border in the Kursk and Belgorod districts. According to information from Moscow, the Russian army repelled the attacks. The partisans then announced new attacks on the capitals of the border districts of Belgorod and Kursk and called on the population to leave the cities.

Russian volunteers from the Ukrainian unit “Siberia Battalion” are preparing for an attack once morest Russian troops. © Telegram

Partisans continue fighting ahead of Russia election

The Russian military then prevented a drone attack on a power plant in Belgorod, according to the state agency Tass stated later. But it was said to have been a strike by the Ukrainian military, and not by the partisan groups. Another drone attack in the border region of Belgorod killed one person, injured three people and damaged two houses and a medical facility, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. According to the Defense Ministry, the Russian military shot down 14 drones.

Meanwhile, the partisan groups carried out the operation on Russian territory on Tuesday independently of the Ukrainian military, Ukrainian intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told the Ukrainian broadcaster 24.

A spokesman for the Legion of Freedom of Russia, Oleksii Baranovski, said The Kyiv Independent stated that fighting between the militias and the Russian army continues in five locations near the Ukrainian border. The Russian armed forces were well prepared for the strike with additional fortifications and trenches.

Nikolai KharitonovDuma deputyVladislav DavankovDeputy Duma chairmanVladimir PutinRussian PresidentLeonid SlutskyDuma member

Pro-Ukrainian militias refer to the upcoming Russian election

Baranovski also wrote regarding a connection between the attacks and the upcoming presidential election in Russia The Kyiv Independent. The military strikes were timed and understood as an “election method”. “As dutiful citizens of Russia, we have thus decided our political will, our attitude towards these elections and the regime of Vladimir Putin.”

In addition to the Legion of Freedom of Russia, the Siberian Battalion also made direct reference to the presidential election. In its Telegram channel it calls on people in Russia to ignore the election. “Ballots and polling stations are fiction in this case,” it says. Only with weapons can people improve their lives; those who do not accept poverty and tyranny must make “the right choice”.

Members of the Legion of Freedom of Russia on May 24 in the Belgorod region. © IMAGO/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy

Against Putin and the Russian election: “Siberian Battalion” primarily for ethnic minorities

At the end of last year, the groups of Russian volunteers in Ukraine grew with the Siberian Battalion. Unlike the Legion of Freedom of Russia and the right-wing extremist Russian Volunteer Corps, the Ukrainian military created and trained the new militia. The name of the group refers to the fact that it is intended to attract people who belong to ethnic minorities from the Siberian regions of Russia and who have therefore already been opposed to the Kremlin, for example because of their own aspirations for independence or the poor economic situation.

President Putin has also spoken out The Kyiv Independent regarding the election: On Tuesday he described disruption of the election – or at least interference in the process of expression of will – as the main purpose of the militias’ military strikes. Putin recently called for elections in annexed areas. (ses)

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