Since the start of the war in Ukraine, thousands of foreigners have come from all over the world to fight the Russian army. Among these soldiers, franceinfo was able to interview Russian opponents of Vladimir Putin’s regime.
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“I will not return to Russia”, almost smiled Igor. To face the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the Ukrainian troops are supported by thousands of foreign fighters, some of whom even come from Russia. This is the case of Igor, originally from Kandalakcha, near the border with Finland. For seven years, the Russian fighter has been deployed in the Donbass: “I have been fighting ideologically since 2010, militarily since 2015”explains this former engineer and human rights activist.
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With the lines drawn, Igor is resting far from the front, where for four months now the Kremlin forces have been pounding the area relentlessly. The fighting has further intensified in recent weeks. After Sevierodonetsk, the Russians took possession of Lyssytchank on Sunday July 3. But he assures him: despite the deaths and the conflict that is bogged down, he came here “to fight, to fight“.
War in Ukraine: opposing Vladimir Putin, Igor fights with the Ukrainian forces
to listen
“I have witnessed the injustice and the lack of freedom experienced by the people. The regime only lies like in the days of the Soviet Union. This is the reason why I am opposed to this inhuman regime”, he says. He confides to franceinfo that he was horrified by the crimes committed by the soldiers of the Russian army, in particular in Boutcha: “Most of them were brainwashed, but that’s no excuse. They are murderers, rapists and looters.”
The Russian army has suffered heavy losses since the start of the invasion of Ukraine. More than 30,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “It is a heavy price, but it is the price to pay for the imperialist ambitions of the Russian leaders supported by the population”, believes Igor. According to him, Russian elites share the same worldview as Vladimir Putin, which makes regime change unlikely in the short term. The soldier, far from his native land, assures him: his “greatest wish is to take Ukrainian citizenship“.