The Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL, Russian: Легион «Свобода России», romanized: Legion "Svoboda Rossii"; Ukrainian: Легіон «Свобода Росії», romanized: Lehion "Svoboda Rosiyi"; abbr. ЛСР, romanized: LSR), also called the Free Russia Legion,[8][9] is a Ukrainian-based paramilitary group of Russian citizens, which opposes the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin and its invasion of Ukraine.[10] It was formed in March 2022 and is reportedly part of Ukraine's International Legion. It consists of defectors from the Russian Armed Forces, and other Russian volunteers, some of whom had emigrated to Ukraine. Since 22 May 2023, the Legion has launched cross-border raids into the Belgorod region of Russia, alongside the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC). According to UNIAN, the Freedom of Russia Legion was formed from a company of the Russian army who voluntarily defected to the Ukrainian side. According to the company commander, they crossed to the Ukrainian side with the help of the Security Service of Ukraine on 27 February 2022, to "protect Ukrainians from real fascists". He called on his compatriots, soldiers of the Russian army, to join the Freedom of Russia Legion in order to save their own people and the country "from humiliation and destruction". The Legion's stated goals are to repel the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ultimately depose the silovik regime of Vladimir Putin. The group claims to be made up of two battalions. The Legion's official Telegram channel was created on 10 March 2022, and its first post called on people to join the armed struggle against the "war criminal Putin". On 5 April, three men wearing military fatigues and black balaclavas held a press conference in Kyiv, announcing that the Freedom of Russia Legion had been formed. They said it was made up wholly of Russian citizens, including former POWs. One of the men said the Putin regime had tricked them into going to Ukraine to carry out "genocide", saying he had seen war crimes by the Russian army. The Freedom of Russia Legion is reportedly part of Ukraine's International Legion. On 1 June 2022, the Legion's official Telegram (and YouTube) channel posted a video claiming to show a Russian tank being captured by the Legion. On 29 June, they said they captured a Russian POW in the Lysychansk area. On 11 June, it became known that Igor Volobuyev [uk], the Ukrainian-born ex-vice-chairman of Gazprombank, who left Russia at the outbreak of the invasion, had joined the Freedom of Russia Legion. On 13 July, the Legion allegedly made a statement that it had withdrawn from active fighting, to "restore combat capability". In December 2022, the Legion's spokesman said that it operated under Ukrainian command and were mainly involved in artillery and propaganda. Some Legion fighters reportedly fought in the battle of Bakhmut. In May 2023, the Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps launched a Raid into Russia, in Grayvoronsky District, Belgorod Oblast. They claimed to aim at creating a demilitarised zone along the border, to stop Russian artillery firing at Ukraine from Russian territory.[6][15] The two groups launched another Raid on 1 June into the Shebekino area of Belgorod Oblast. A spokesman for the Legion said their goals were to draw Russian troops away from other parts of the front, and to encourage rebellion against the Russian government. Symbols, ideology, and leadership: A patch set of the Freedom of Russia Legion with the clenched fist and the white-blue-white flag. The Legion uses the white-blue-white flag instead of the official white-blue-red flag of Russia.[4][13] The letter L, the first letter of the words Legion and Liberty, is also used by the Legion as one of its symbols. On the right sleeve, the Legion wears the flag of Ukraine, like other Ukrainian foreign legions. The Legion has not publicly identified its leaders. The Legion's spokesperson, who uses "Caesar" (Tsezar) as a nom de guerre, has emerged as the group's de facto public face. He identifies himself as the Legion's deputy commander, and a former physiotherapist from Saint Petersburg. He said in December 2022: "I am not fighting my motherland. I am fighting against Putin's regime, against evil. I'm not a traitor. I'm a true Russian patriot who thinks about the future of my country." The Legion's manifesto describes itself as a group of "free citizens of Russia who take responsibility for themselves and are beginning to fight for a New Russia." It criticizes Putin's government for its corruption and suppression of civil liberties. The group believes that Putin's regime can be toppled only by armed struggle, and calls upon Russian officers and soldiers to defect. Caesar described himself as a right-wing nationalist, but said that "we adhere to moderate centrist views." Relationship to other armed anti-Putin units in Russia: The far-right, neo-Nazi Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), a separate anti-Putin group,[30][26] has said it has "a different ideological base" than the Legion.[26] Caesar declined to condemn the RVC, saying: "I do not discuss other units, especially Russian volunteers." In August 2022, the Freedom of Russia Legion and National Republican Army signed the Irpin Declaration, a declaration of cooperation among armed anti-Putin Russian forces. The organizations also agreed to create a political wing, to represent their interests and organize a joint information policy, led by Ilya Ponomarev, a former Russian MP. However, the existence of the National Republican Army as an organization is unconfirmed, and representatives of the RVC attended the signing ceremony in Irpin. Ponomarev said that the RVC had signed the declaration, but the RVC denied that it had signed on. Michael Clarke, a visiting professor of war studies at King's College London, said in May 2023: "It's clear that Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps are both predominantly Russian groups — self-styled 'partisans' trying to bring the Putin government down and that they range from the soccer-thug neo-Nazis to the wannabe celebrities and even to some semi-serious political reformers. They are not 'liberals' but rather hard-line Russian nationalists — just not of the Putin variety." The Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps said they had liberated the settlements of Kozinka and Gora-Podol in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation as part of the creation of a demilitarized zone on the border with Russia, and advanced units entered Grayvoron. ‘Counter-terrorism measures’ introduced in the region, nuclear munitions are evacuated.

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