THE leader of a battalion of Russian partisans waging war at Putin’s borders has warned that Russia is ready to explode – and they will be the ones to light its fuse in 2024.
The commander of the Freedom of Russia Legion, whose call sign is Caesar, vowed his “warriors” will stop at nothing to “free our motherland” and “save Ukraine” in the process.
AFPCaesar, 49, leads a battalion of fierce Russian fighters that have landed themselves at the top of Putin’s kill list[/caption]
Caesar told The Sun that their operations are getting ‘bigger and bigger and bigger’
ReutersThe Freedom of Russia Legion led a ‘successful’ assault into Russia in late May and ‘liberated’ eight villages[/caption]
The former personal trainer wants to free Russia from the tyranny of Putin
In a secret bunker near Ukraine’s frontline, Caesar told The Sun that he had total belief in their mission.
“We have to fight for the freedom of Ukraine and for the freedom of our motherland. And we will win,” he said.
The legion, which formed in spring last year with the explicit aim of finally ending the Kremlin regime, has been growing from strength to strength.
Now the anti-Putin partisans are scaling-up their secret operations and preparing for an armed struggle.
“We are the first military regiment who clearly and loudly says that only a struggle by force can change the power in Russia,” Caesar said.
“That’s why Putin is very, very afraid of us.
“We know that we will win. It’s just a question of when.”
In late May, the 49-year-old former personal trainer led a battalion of his men across the border into Russia to carry out the biggest assault on Russian soil since Putin rose to power.
Caesar recalled kissing the ground before waving his passport jokingly at fleeing Russian border guards.
Behind him, his volunteer unit was charging into Russia armed to the teeth on tanks.
“It was an amazing feeling,” Caesar said. “It was such an inspiration for all of our warriors.”
In a dramatic days-long battle, the legion – along with another anti-Putin resistance group called the Russian Volunteer Corps – “liberated” eight villages in the Belgorod region, even taking Russian soldiers captive.
The freedom fighter described their assault as “very successful” and just the beginning of their plot to topple Putin.
“We pushed back a lot of Russian forces and they had to move reserves to those regions, which weakened their capacities elsewhere,” he said.
It took skill, bravado and hell of a lot of fearlessness for the ragtag band of former civilians to charge into Russia.
It was a small ground victory, but a large symbolic win, Caesar said.
And it clearly frightened Putin, 71, as the Kremlin falsely claimed that every last “saboteur” involved in the attack had been eliminated.
“It was bulls**t,” said Caesar, who claimed only two of his men were killed.
“We were all laughing because they showed dead bodies with not even the right uniform badges on.”
We are the prototype of a future free Russia
Caesar, Commander of the Freedom of Russia Legion
Their attack would later be eclipsed by Yevgeny Prigohzin’s Wagner fighters’ extraordinary, but ultimately brief insurrection in June.
Like Prigozhin was, Caesar and his comrades were branded “traitors” by Russia – a word Putin does not spew lightly.
The Wagner warlord met his fiery end when his plane was blown out the sky in August and it seems Putin is hellbent on delivering a similar punishment to the fighters of the legion.
“We scared them and they are hunting us, not only on the frontline but anywhere they can find our warriors,” Caesar said.
“Wherever we are, all kinds of rockets and bombs and artillery shells strike at us.”
LIGHTING THE FUSE
Caesar explained: “We are not traitors like the Kremlin propagandists say. We really love our country and we wish only good for it.”
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the 49-year-old worked as a fitness coach for mostly disabled clients in St Petersburg.
“I was a peaceful worker with four children. I never thought such a tragic thing as this war would happen. I couldn’t stand aside,” he said.
The rest of the legion’s soldiers answered the same calling.
“They never thought about going to war,” he added.
“90 per cent of us were never in the military forces. They were peaceful people, but now they can’t just watch the misery. It’s our people’s duty to help Ukraine and free our country.”
Caesar said the group is at battalion strength – up to a thousand soldiers – and it “keeps on growing”.
The Freedom of Russian Legion serves under the Ukrainian military but as an independent unit of volunteers.
“We have assault squads, artillery companies, war drones, radio-electronic warfare system… and recruitment is going very well,” he said.
“We are all different here,” he added, explaining that his troops are all Russian citizens but belong to different nationalities and religions and hold conflicting political views.
“That is not our weakness. That’s our power, because we are like all of Russian society. We share ideas, communicate well and fight hard.
“We are the prototype of a future free Russia.”
“This is their true goal,” Ilya Ponomarev, the political representative for the Freedom of Russia Legion and other resistance groups, said.
He told The Sun that Caesar’s warriors “do not have a political agenda” beyond toppling Putin.
They want to be the pushing force to allow a “new country can be built”.
“The legion is now a large and well-established military unit,” the exiled opposition leader added. “They lead by far the largest resistance network inside the country.”
Vladimir Putin has branded Caesar and his comrades ‘traitors to the motherland’AFP
AFPCaesar pictured next to the political head of Russian resistance, Ilya Ponomarev[/caption]
AFPRussian forces are actively hunting down Caesar and his warriors across Ukraine’s frontline[/caption]
The legion fighters were pictured posing next to armoured vehicles inside Russia during their May assault
AFPCaesar (pictured next to a destroyed monastery in eastern Ukraine) wants Russian citizens to understand that the war in Ukraine is a collective ‘tragedy’ for all[/caption]
VIVE LA RÉSISTANCE
Despite being hunted down by the Kremlin’s death squads, Caesar said that Putin can never destroy an ideal.
And every day the renegade group stay alive and fighting, he hopes they are providing hope for those who long for a different Russia – one free of Putin’s tyranny.
Since last May’s mini “invasion”, the legion has been keeping the pressure on.
Small-scale raids at Russia’s border with Ukraine have been in full-swing since August, he said, and all of his legion fighters are engaged in active combat in Ukraine.
“Every day our regiment is fighting on the front line near Bakhmut, Kharkiv, Kupyansk,” he said.
And when asked about the group’s plans next year, Caesar’s face lit up.
“I will not tell you the date, but our regiment is growing and that’s why our operation will be bigger, bigger and bigger,” he said.
Aside from this, the partisans are scaling-up their secret operations far behind enemy lines as they help to coordinate resistance efforts.
“But not all of them we are talking about,” Caesar said with a wry smile.
The commander said they have a combined force of thousands of brave Russians behind them – those who are willing to risk their loves to secure a “brighter future” for Russia.
“The day will come when we can break through. And all of our supporters inside Russia who are waiting for us, will help us.
“They’re already burning war commissaries. They blow up railroads. They set fire to military infrastructure. They do very, very valuable things there.”
We are fighting for the light, not for darkness
Caesar, Commander of the Freedom of Russia Legion
Caesar describes his fighters as realists who see that the time has well past for elections and peaceful protests.
“We know the political situation,” he said.
“Putin and his puppets will not go away with an armed struggle. All opposition has withdrawn from Russia or been thrown into jail.
“There is no other way to stop this tragic war except by force.”
They also know that they cannot truly take on the Kremlin alone and that the war has to be fought on the political battlefield too.
The legion is currently attempting to unite all opposition Russian forces and visionaries into one common fight to take down the Kremlin.
And they need Russian citizens with them.
The commander said: “We will remind them that every day of this war, Russia is thrown further from civilization, from freedom, from prosperity and its bright future.
“We will help turn Russian society into a bomb and us into the detonator. We will break through into Russia and this bomb will explode.”
The pro-Ukrainian partisans appear to be led by a relentless faith built from years of pain and blood.
“We really believe in our victory. We really believe that we are on the true side. We are fighting for the light, not for darkness,” Caesar vowed.
AFPCaesar and his man want to ‘detonate Russia’[/caption]
AFPThe group hopes to be the armed force that finally ends Putin’s almost 23 years in power[/caption]
X‘Bigger and bigger and bigger’ things are planned for the New Year[/caption]
X/RussiaLegionThe legion have been keeping up cross-border raids, while also fighting for Kyiv on the frontline[/caption]
‘We have to fight for the freedom of Ukraine and for the freedom of our motherland.And we will win,’ Caesar told The Sun
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