Inside Russia’s Freedom Legion: ‘We’ll drive Putin’s murderers back into their swamps’ | World | News

Alexey Baranovsky is adamant – there can be no talk of a Russian victory in Ukraine, despite recent setbacks for Zelensky’s army.

Over the winter Putin’s forces have regained the battlefield initiative as Ukraine struggles to cope with a reinvigorated Russian offensive in the Donbas.

Outgunned and outmanned, Kyiv’s forces have been in steady retreat as Putin and his generals exploit to the maximum political tensions and wrangling in the West over further military aid for Ukraine.

Putin’s invaders are currently pushing westwards from the eastern town of Avdiivka and are engaged in fierce battles for Chasiv Yar – a key staging post on the road to Kramatorsk and then Kharkiv – Ukraine‘s second largest city and whose capture would be a huge morale blow for Kyiv.

Some western military experts are even predicting the possibility of a Kremlin victory by the end of the summer, as a mood of pessimism starts to take hold among Kyiv’s allies.

Yet Alexey, 42, defiantly dismisses such defeatist talk and insists that Putin’s army will be defeated if Ukraine‘s NATO allies make good on their promises to deliver more weapons.

“Don’t rush to bury us,” he said. “These are Putin’s myths that he can win. Recently there was another such myth about the ‘second army’ of the world and it was debunked by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“If Ukraine’s Western partners finally begin supplying arms to Ukraine on a significant scale, then we will drive Putin’s murderous army back into the Moscow swamps from where they came.”

Alexey is a member of Russia‘s Freedom Legion and serves as a drone operator on the frontlines. The unit has two roles – it is part of Ukraine‘s International Legion that fights with Kyiv’s army against the Russians.

At the same time it carries out its own daring raids inside Russian territory – the most recent of which was just before Putin’s sham presidential elections in March.

The Legion is made up of Russian volunteers – some of whom were already in Ukraine before the war broke out; others have joined the unit after fleeing Russia.

Alexey, who is of mixed Russian-Ukraine heritage, was already living in Kyiv before the war. He initially worked as a photo journalist for Ukrainsky Pravda, before becoming a Human Rights’ lawyer.

When Putin invaded he quickly joined the anti-Putin movement, working closely with former Russian MP Ilya Ponomarev and his Congress of People’s Deputies. Last autumn he took the decision to join the ranks and file of the Legion, after helping the unit to develop closer ties with Russia‘s political opposition.

Becoming an active fighter was no easy decision for Alexey, but he feels he had no choice and believes the dream of a free and democratic Russia is one worth dying for.

“All my life I avoided military service,” he told Express.co.uk. “I am a purely civilian person, a humanitarian. But Putin made a choice for all of us, starting this crazy war against Ukraine. Well, the stakes have been raised to the maximum. At stake is life (if you lose) and the freedom of Russia (if you win). This game is worth the candle.”

The rebels and their political allies believe that a Kremlin defeat in Ukraine will open the way to toppling Putin and his regime, providing an opportunity to transform Russia‘s political destiny.

Asked whether he was not afraid to die and how he felt before his first military assignment, Alexey explained a fighter had to psychologically deal with their fears before joining up and that his overriding emotion before his first combat was one of “excitement”.

“You must deal with your fears at home when you decide to become a volunteer,” he said.

“Once you have made your decision, it is too late to be afraid. Maybe it works differently for other people, but I had a feeling like before the start of an important football match: excitement! Well, let’s see who will do who today. This does not mean that you can act recklessly or carelessly, far from it, but it is better to work with fears at home.”

Being at the front during the winter has involved coping with brutally cold and freezing conditions, but he said Ukraine‘s army had provided them with all the provisions they needed to stay warm and keeping going.

As a drone operator, he spends much of his time helping out with reconnaissance work and when the weather is bad – doing repairs.

Describing a typical day at the front, he said: “If the weather is good, by dawn we are already in position and fly for reconnaissance to see what the enemy is doing.

“Then we act according to circumstances, but usually the shift is a full daylight hours. At night, another shift works with drones equipped with thermal imagers. If it rains, we sit at the base, do repairs, do routine household chores, relax, and train.”

Alexey has no doubts – the Legion is here to stay no matter what and will provide the spark for revolutionary change in Russia.