1 year ago
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For the last two days, any news about Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has been all but drowned out by Russia’s invasion of … Russia. On Monday, fighters reportedly belonging to the Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps crossed the border into Belgorod oblast and swiftly moved through the town of Kozinka, where they captured a Russian BTR-82A armored personnel carrier, before going on to the village of Glotovo. On Monday night, video showed more trucks reportedly belonging to these organizations moving into the area, and videos on Tuesday morning showed these forces apparently moving with ease along the highway between the two locations.
The immediate reaction from many quarters was a kind of celebration. While most people realized that this was a small action that posed no actual threat to the government of dictator Vladimir Putin, just the thought of this Russian-on-Russian action was enough to spark visions of the breakdown in the Russian military and civil structure that has seemed so possible since the war began. That it was just a few guys and Russia still couldn’t mount any kind of effort to push them out only made it more hilarious.
As pleasing as it may be to contemplate a Russian collapse, the people involved in this Belgorod homecoming are definitely not heroes. Announcements from these groups have included genocidal messages about LGBTQ+ people that make Russia’s abusive and inhuman practices seem mild. At least one of those featured in the videos is an out-and-out neo-Nazi who has previously listed Timothy McVeigh among his idols. These are not the good guys, and it’s unclear if anything about this is really helping Ukraine.
