Not Your Casual News Week 11: Who are the Russians fighting against Russia?
Also on cyber attacks of “unprecedented intensity” in France and unbearable heat in Rio de Janeiro
With blue flags in hand, a group of Russian fighters, backed by Ukraine, made their way across the Ukrainian-Russian border into the Belgorod and Kursk Oblasts in south-west Russia. The attack began on 12 March and lasted at least five days — it might still be going on today.
The fighters claimed to have temporarily taken over four villages, killed more than 600 Russian soldiers, captured 27 prisoners of war and forced local Russian authorities to urge civilians in the area to evacuate, a claim later confirmed by the Kremlin-controlled RT channel, which said that some people living in border towns in Belgorod were leaving their homes.
The fighters, described in Forbes as “three far-right groups”, are the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL), the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) and the Sibir (Siberian) Battalion. From neo-Nazi hooligans to army defectors, they are a melting pot of diametrically opposed Russians, all but united in their desire to bring down Putin.
Two smaller groups supported them in the operations, one made up of volunteers from the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, and a second made up of Moldovans and Romanians, called Battlegroup Getica.
The FSL and RVC have had links with neo-Nazis in the past. Both describe themselves as Russian dissidents and have members who expressed white nationalist views, including their respective leaders.
Both groups have been involved in similar raids in the past: in the summer of 2023, they led a few incursions into Belgorod Oblast, resulting in casualties from both sides.
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The founder of the Russian Volunteer Corps said they were fighting so that “no sham elections of Russian president Vladimir Putin take place on the territories bordering Ukraine,” while the Freedom of Russia Legion said they had come to “free Russians from poverty and fear.”
The Sibir Battalion declared that “they began to fulfill the promise to overthrow the criminal dictatorial regime in the Russian Federation with weapons in hand.” This group wasn't involved in the previous incursions and is a little more specific than the other two.
It is made up of fighters from Russia, but also ethnic minorities, such as Buryats, Tatars and Yakuts, who see an Ukrainian victory as a way of liberating their homeland from Russian imperialism.
It is worth noting that Russian drafts for its war in Ukraine have been particularly heavy in those regions.
So far, the impact of this operation has been very limited.
And perhaps that is enough. The aim of the “limited military operation”, as the RVC calls it in its telegram, was surely not to take an entire oblast, but to demonstrate the weakness of the Kremlin’s defences and to remind Russian civilians that they are at war - and not invincible.
On 15 March, the Russian state news agency TASS reported that Vladimir Putin had recognised that the raids by pro-Ukrainian Russian volunteer regiments on the Belgorod and Kursk regions were intended to “disrupt Russian elections,” and had vowed a “response.”
Although supported by Ukraine, the resources available for such small operations far from the current frontlines are limited. But it seems to have worked well.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s defence intelligence, said of the three groups that they were no longer “groups” but a “force” in their own right, and may have promised more for the future:
“They’ve been helping us since the first day of the events that unfolded on 24 February [2022], and they’re good warriors. They have fought in many of Ukraine’s hottest spots. We’re going to try and help them as much as we can.”
What Else Happened?
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned on Monday amid mounting pressure from criminal gangs and political instability in the Caribbean nation. Henry, who assumed office after the assassination of the former president in 2021, handed in his resignation following an emergency summit of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders. The resignation comes amid gang-led violence and repeatedly postponed elections, with gangs threatening civil war if Henry does not step down. Stranded outside Haiti, Henry arrived in Puerto Rico last week after being denied entry to the Dominican Republic.
French cyberspace has been hit by a series of critical attacks in the last weeks by an alleged pro-Russian hacking group, Anonymous Sudan. Starting on 10 March, a 48-hour series of cyber attacks of “unprecedented intensity” hit more than 800 administrative centers simultaneously. Earlier, between February and March, an attack on the French unemployment agency France Travail compromised the data of 43 million French users, including their names, postal addresses, social security numbers and telephone numbers. Although not yet confirmed, the hacks were claimed by Anonymous Sudan on their Telegram channel and are being closely watched by French authorities. “Several names have been mentioned: what stands out to me is Anonymous rather than Sudan,” said the French Civil Service Minister, Stanislas Guerini, adding that those behind the attacks are “almost certainly in allegiance to pro-Russian networks.” This could come as a retaliation for President Emmanuel Macron’s reiterated support for Ukraine.
Quincy Promes, a Dutch footballer playing in Russian Premier League for Spartak Moscow, has been arrested in Dubai following a Dutch request for his arrest in connection with a cocaine trafficking case. He was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison in the Netherlands. Promes, who won 50 caps for the Netherlands, is expected to be extradited to the Netherlands. He is also charged with assault in a separate case, for which he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Promes has denied all charges and is appealing in both cases. The footballer was reportedly living in luxury in Dubai, but was taken into custody as a result of joint efforts by both countries.
Elections quick updates: Far-right Geert Wilders will not become The Netherland’s next Prime Minister, and Senegal’s main opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has been freed from jail.
Climate News
A Belgian farmer, Hugues Falys, has filed a lawsuit against French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies, seeking compensation for climate change damage to his farm. He is also trying to get an injunction to stop the company from investing in new fossil fuel projects. The case, filed at the Tournai commercial court, is Belgium’s first climate-related lawsuit against a multinational company. The farmer attributes extreme weather damage between 2016 and 2022 to TotalEnergies’ emissions, which have affected his cattle farming. The lawsuit seeks an injunction forcing TotalEnergies to review its business strategy, stop new fossil fuel investments and reduce oil and gas production by 47% by 2030, as well as compensation for the damages.
Rio de Janeiro has broken its record for the highest heat index ever recorded by the Alerta Rio system, with the Guaratiba station in the West Zone registering a heat index of 60.1°C (140.18°F) at 10:20 (am) on Saturday — Heat index measures are different than classic temperature measures, as it records what temperature feels like when we include humidity in the equation. The previous record was 59.7°C (139.46°F) in November 2023. Much of Brazil remains under a red alert for heat, with temperatures expected to exceed 40°C (104°F) and at least nine states under “potential danger” or “great danger” warnings. The state of Rio de Janeiro is on yellow alert, according to the National Institute of Meteorology, with temperatures 5°C (41°F) above average for several consecutive days. Health authorities have advised people at risk to take extra precautions against heat-related illnesses.
Image of the Week
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Mankind is getting closer to Mars, one rocket at a time.
SpaceX launched the third test flight of its Starship on 14 March. The ship soared through the skies of Texas, spending almost 65 minutes in space before the teams lost contact with it. The flight test is still considered a huge success.
“Congrats to @SpaceX on a successful test flight! Starship has soared into the heavens. Together, we are making great strides through Artemis to return humanity to the moon — then look onward to Mars,” NASA chief Bill Nelson said on Twitter (X) after the test.
Starship is the Über that NASA has ordered to land its astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis 3 mission, currently scheduled for 2026.
Thank you for reading, have a good week ahead!