Ukraine's Intelligence Chief on Russian Volunteer Corps: They won't reach Moscow now but will play their role

Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), believes that the raids of the Russian Volunteer Corps in Russia's Kursk and Belgorod oblasts managed to distract the regular Russian army from the combat zone in Ukraine for the defence of their own territory.

Source: Budanov in the joint 24/7 news cast

Quote: "They (the Russian volunteers – ed.) are fighting for their state. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they fail but they do not give up. It’s been happening for the second year in a row in the same location, which shows that their approach is systematic. When the situation in the combat zone changes, I think, it will become easier for them to advance and achieve their goal.

As of now it is very beneficial for us that they were able to deploy their groupings in many locations, distract the Russian forces in the combat zone and make them defend their borders."

Details: To a clarifying question about the change of the situation in the combat zone, Budanov explained: "At the time when the tension in the combat zone is at the highest level, it is easier for Russian volunteer formations to fight for their state. This is the first thing. Secondly, when radical changes start, and Russia will have to retreat, to withdraw its forces, these formations will also do their thing".

Budanov noted that as of now, the volunteers "sadly, cannot reach Moscow with weapons in their hands", but they will "play their role when the situation allows them to".

Responding to a question about who is in control of the settlement of Tiotkino in Kursk Oblast, which was reportedly captured by the Freedom of Russia Legion, Budanov said: "I think, nobody, it has become a grey zone of sorts. Let’s say not much is left of this settlement anyway".

Background: 

• On 12 March, soldiers of the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Sibir (Siberian) Battalion reported that they had crossed the Russian border. The military volunteer groups posted an address online, and a video appeared on Telegram channels purporting to show military personnel firing their weapons on the Russian territory.
• Soldiers of the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Sibir Battalion had made advances into Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod Oblasts, fighting and inflicting losses upon the Russian Armed Forces, said Alexei (aka Lyutik) Baranovsky, a volunteer soldier of the Freedom of Russia Legion
• The founder of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) said that fighters of the RVC would make efforts to ensure that none of Putin’s sham elections would take place on the territories bordering Ukraine.
• On the morning of 14 March, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia's Belgorod Oblast, said that Russian air defence had shot down eight aerial targets over the city of Belgorod and the surrounding district. Russian Telegram news channels reported an alleged attempt by a "Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group" to enter the territory of the oblast, but Russian volunteer soldiers fighting on Ukraine's side said it was them attacking military targets in Russia. They explained that they had been forced to open fire because Russia continues to attack peaceful settlements in Ukraine.
• The Freedom of Russia Legion later posted a video of burning buildings and reported that they had destroyed two Russian army ammunition storage points in the village of Tyotkino, in Russia's Kursk Oblast. The governor of Kursk Oblast said that "Ukrainian terrorists" were supposedly breaking into the oblast, while the Russian Guard claimed that it was "repelling an attack by Ukrainian saboteurs".
• On 16 March, the Russian Volunteer Corps released footage of a new group of Russian prisoners of war they had captured and said they were ready to exchange them at a meeting with the Belgorod Oblast governor.
• On 17 March, the Russian volunteer group Sibir (Siberian) Battalion claimed to have raised their flags in the village of Kozinka, Belgorod Oblast, Russia, together with the Russian Volunteer Corps. On the same day, the Russian volunteer soldiers took control of the village of Gorkovskii in Belgorod Oblast.

Support UP or become our patron!