Anti-Putin Russians ‘blow up fuel and ammunition depot in occupied Ukraine’ as they ramp up strikes after attacks in border regions

Russians battling Vladimir Putin claim they blew up a fuel and ammunition depot in occupied Ukraine as they expand their strikes after attacks in border regions.

The Legion of Freedom of Russia – which was formed in the spring of 2022 to fight for Ukraine – claimed a mortar attack on the village of Zaitseve in the Donetsk region.

Dramatic drone footage captured the moment the depot transformed into a raging inferno as huge plumes of smoke rose into the sky.

The anti-Putin group said the attack hit a depot where mines and grenades had been stashed by Russian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on the attack.

The legion’s drone operators in 1st UAV Company and a platoon of mortar batteries were behind the attack.

Dramatic drone footage captured the moment the depot transformed into a raging inferno as huge plumes of smoke rose into the sky

The organization, made up of hundreds of Russian military volunteers, has so far focused on Russian border regions such as Belgorod and Kursk, but they appear to be expanding their attacks on Putin’s army.

Ukraine’s military intelligence said the attacks in Belgorod involved only Russian citizens and were intended to create a “safety zone” to protect Ukrainian citizens.

The Freedom of Russia Legion says it cooperates with the Ukrainian armed forces and operates under Ukrainian command. The goal is to free their country from tyranny.

In May, Russia’s Legion of Freedom claimed responsibility for daring attacks on Belgorod, along with another anti-Kremlin militia, the Russian Volunteer Corps.

With armored vehicles, small arms and a few tanks, they stormed across the border from Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and took a series of urban settlements to occupy up to five miles of Russian soil.

They later launched a pair of drone strikes against FSB and Russian Interior Ministry buildings in the city of Belgorod, prompting regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov to order the evacuation of nine Russian cities and the Kremlin for “serious cause for concern.” ‘ to admit.

Russia’s Defense Ministry later claimed it had “wiped out” the rebels, whom they refused to recognize as Russian and instead described as Ukrainian nationalists.

The Freedom of Russia Legion says it cooperates with the Ukrainian armed forces and operates under Ukrainian command

The anti-Putin group said the attack hit a depot where mines and grenades had been stashed by Russian troops

Caesar, who killed Russian soldiers on the battlefield, is called an extremist and a Nazi by the Russian state media

Russia’s Legion of Freedom – which was formed in spring 2022 to fight for Ukraine against ‘Putin’s armed gang’ – claimed a mortar attack on the village of Zaitseve in the Donetsk region

In an interview last month, the legion’s commander said it was planning other attacks to take advantage of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenaries of Wagner’s aborted rebellion against Putin.

Caesar, a spokesman for the paramilitary group, told The Observer: “There will be another surprise in the next month. It will be our third operation. Then comes a fourth and fifth. We have ambitious plans. We want to liberate all our territory.’

The legion carried out attacks in May and early June, occupying border villages near Belgorod. It took ten Russian soldiers captive, but two members of the anti-Kremlin militia were killed.

Caesar, whose real name is Maximillian Andronnikov, has been called an extremist and a Nazi by Russian state media.

Russian sources have warned he could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted in Russia.

Critics have labeled the Legion a public relations project spearheaded by Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov.

The attack on the depot comes after Ukrainian forces yesterday damaged two key bridges leading into Russian-occupied Crimea with ‘Storm Shadow missiles supplied by the UK’.

The Chonhar Bridge connecting mainland Ukraine to Crimea was damaged and a small bridge across the Tonky Strait was also shelled.

Attacks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces are making it increasingly difficult for Putin’s invading army to move up and down the peninsula, which Russia captured from Ukraine in 2014.

The rocket attacks came after Russia launched three waves of attacks on Ukraine the night before.