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‘I want to make up for mistakes’: The Russian POWs fighting for Ukraine

Russian prisoners of war have been recruited to fight for anti-Kremlin militias that say they are aiding Ukraine’s war effort. “At some point, I understood that what they were telling us in Russia was a complete lie.” Vlad said he initially had no plans to join the Russian army. At the time, Yulia Gorbunova, a researcher on Ukraine at Human …

Ukraine

Who is Ilya Ponomarev, the anti-war Russian renegade exiled in Ukraine?

Ponomarev, once a liberal parliamentarian, has likened himself to Charles de Gaulle. Exiled in Ukraine since 2016, Ponomarev is the political head of the Freedom of Russia Legion, a volunteer militia thought to include about 1,600 Russian dissidents and defectors using pinprick tactics to aggravate Russian troops with the aim of one day marching on Moscow. “Average Russians don’t know …

Ukraine responds to Wagner mutiny in Russia with caution, hope

While the leadership in Kyiv is weighing how best to seize the moment, average Ukrainians are far less optimistic. Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine’s top military expert has said that Kyiv has to make a “strategic, principal decision” on how to benefit from the unfolding turmoil in Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, “Russia’s weakness is obvious” and that the longer …

As Russians fight for Ukraine, Kyiv is faced with a new dilemma

As a Russian Volunteer Corps fighter is remembered as a ‘brave warrior’, analysts explain why Ukraine is distancing itself from armed groups. “He was a brave warrior, a pious Christian, a trustworthy comrade,” Denis Kapustin, Maznik’s commanding officer, said through tears during a farewell ceremony last weekend at the historic Baikove cemetery in Kyiv. “This is a fight of the …

Russia thwarts more Belgorod attacks, blames Ukraine

Defence ministry says it repelled three attacks in the border area, which has come under intensified fire since last month. Russia’s defence ministry has said it thwarted three cross-border attacks near the town of Shebekino, as it accused Ukraine of using what it said were “terrorist formations”. “Overall, the attack involved up to 70 militants, five tanks, four armoured vehicles, …

Who’s behind the attack on a Russian region bordering Ukraine?

Ukraine has denied any involvement in a daring cross-border assault that threatens to further escalate the war. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, as quoted by Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti, said the purpose of the alleged Ukrainian mission in Belgorod was “to divert attention from the direction of Bakhmut”. The Ukrainian military intelligence agency’s spokesperson said on Monday that the …

Russian ‘clean up’ operation after raid on Belgorod from Ukraine

The Liberty of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps said to be involved in cross-border incursion in Russia’s Belgorod region. The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Tuesday that a “counterterrorism operation” was continuing against what he had earlier described as a Ukrainian “sabotage group” which had entered Russian territory in the Graivoron district bordering Ukraine. Ukrainian …