Groups fighting for Ukraine said on Wednesday that an incursion they made over the past two days into a Russian border region was a “success” that exposed the weakness of Russian defences.
Talking to reporters in northern Ukraine not far from the Russian border, the founder of one such group, Denis Kapustin of the Russian Volunteer Corps, said entering Russia and returning to Ukraine “can be considered a success.”
The attack referred to by the pro-Ukrainian fighters took place in the Belgorod region on Monday, when Moscow reported the incursion of groups of “saboteurs” from Ukraine.
The incursion, in which two groups of fighters participated, was the most serious attack by fighters from Ukraine on Russian territory since the conflict began.
It was accompanied by the shelling of Russian villages by the Ukrainians that left one person dead and 13 injured.
“The operation is underway. It has several phases,” said Denis Kapustin, a well-known figure in Russia’s hooligan and far-right circles who moved before the war to Ukraine, where he organised mixed martial arts fights and owned a clothing brand.
He said such incursions forced the Russian army to move “a large number” of forces, clearing out other parts of the border and the front.
The spokesman for the other group that claimed responsibility for the incursion, the 'Freedom Legion of Russia,' called the operation “unbelievable” as he posed in front of an armoured vehicle that he assured was a “trophy” taken from Russian forces.
The spokesman, known as ‘Caesar’ hailed from St. Petersburg, Russia. He has been identified by Russian investigative media as a member of Russia’s imperialist and nationalist far-right circles.
The fighters, who numbered about 30 in front of the press, said they spent nearly 24 hours on Russian territory before returning to Ukraine in the early hours of Wednesday.
Moscow said on Tuesday it had repelled the incursion with artillery and aircraft and eliminated “more than 70 Ukrainian terrorists.”
For their part, the fighters, who define themselves as “right-wing conservatives and traditionalists,” claimed to have had only two casualties. Some have openly advertised themselves in the past as neo-Nazis.
Denis Kapustin said Moscow’s reaction to the incursion showed that “the military and political leadership in Russia is absolutely not ready to deal with such things.”
“I want to prove to them that you can fight against tyrants and that Putin’s power is not unlimited,” he added, stressing that he was fighting against “injustice” and “torture.”
While Ukraine denied any responsibility for the incursion, Denis Kapustin said Kyiv had “encouraged” them without providing weapons or equipment.
Pictures released by Russian authorities showed vehicles used by the fighters in the incursion and later captured, identified by the US newspaper New York Times as American MRAPs.
While Ukraine received more than 500 from Washington, ‘Caesar’ assured the press that he had bought the captured ones “in war shops.”
Russia on Wednesday promised an “extremely firm” response to further armed incursions.
