「裏切り者ではない」　ウクライナ側で戦うロシア人部隊

【ドリナ（ウクライナ）ＡＦＰ＝時事】ウクライナ側に付いて戦う「自由ロシア軍団」に加わるロシア人にとって、最も重要なのは秘匿性だ。（写真は、ウクライナ・ドリナで、破壊された修道院の前に立つ「自由ロシア軍団」のカエサル氏）
　自由ロシア軍団の正確な人数は機密事項であり、所在が明かされることもなく、声明を出す際には慎重に言葉が選ばれる。
　カエサルという仮名を使っている同軍団の報道担当者が、昨年秋にウクライナ軍がロシア軍から奪還したウクライナ東部ドネツク州の村ドリナで取材に応じた。
　カエサル氏はロシア語と英語を交えながら、「祖国と戦っているわけではない。（ロシア大統領のウラジーミル・）プーチンの体制、悪と戦っている」と語った。その上で「私は裏切り者ではない。国の行く末を案じる真の愛国者だ」と強調した。
　自由ロシア軍団は、ロシアがウクライナに侵攻してすぐに創設され、ウクライナ軍の外国人部隊の一端を担っている。そのエンブレムは、突き上げた握り拳に「ロシア」と「自由」という文字でデザインされている。
　カエサル氏によると、同軍団には「数百人」のロシア人が加わっており、２か月間の訓練を経て東部ドンバス地方に昨年５月に配置された。
　軍団の兵士の一部は、数か月にわたって激しい戦闘が続いている東部前線のバフムートで任務に就いている。
　匿名を条件に取材に応じたウクライナ関係者は、自由ロシア軍団について「士気の高い熟練した部隊で、任務を完璧にこなす」と語った。志願者には忠誠心を確認するため、数回に及ぶ面接や心理テストのほか、うそを発見するといわれるポリグラフによる検査も課されるという。
　■政治的な宣伝工作で役割
　自由ロシア軍団の戦争遂行努力における貢献は、戦場以外でより大きな意味を持つと解説するのは、軍事専門家のオレグ・ザダノフ氏だ。
　ザダノフ氏は軍団について「戦闘行為に参加するものの、数が少ないために大勢には影響しない」と指摘する。その上で、「その重要性は政治的な側面にある。民主主義や自由を支援し、正しい側で戦うロシア人が存在することを示せるのはウクライナにとって好都合だ」との考えを示す。
　ソーシャルメディア上では、軍団は主にプロパガンダ動画を投稿し、数千人の入隊希望者がいるとしている。
　サンクトペテルブルク出身で理学療法士として働いていた報道担当のカエサル氏は、入隊したのは政治的な動機があったためだと明かした。
　自身を「右派のナショナリスト」と形容するカエサル氏は、プーチン政権は武力でしか打倒することができないと考えている。
　カエサル氏は「ロシアは死につつある。地方に行けば、酔っ払いや薬物依存者、犯罪者が目に付くだろう。民衆は苦しんでいる」と訴える。２０年もプーチン政権が続いたことが原因なのは明らかだと強調する。
　「プーチンを支える体制や政府、側近のすべてが最低だ。敗者であり、地位を悪用した泥棒だ。金や快楽のために生きることにしか関心がない。国家を運営できるわけがない」と断じた。
　ロシアが昨年２月にウクライナに侵攻した後、カエサル氏は妻と４人の子どもをキーウに連れて来た。家族がウクライナにいることで自由に発言でき、家族の身もより安全だと考えている。
　「家族の皆も爆撃の恐怖におびえ、寒さの中での暮らしを余儀なくされている。だが、私の選択に賛成している」と話した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/01/16-14:38）

For Russians who have been fighting on Ukraine's side as part of the Freedom of Russia legion since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine, secrecy is of the utmost importance.
The exact number of their personnel is strictly confidential, their positions are never disclosed and their statements are carefully worded.
Their spokesman, who uses the nom de guerre Caesar, walks through what remains of an Orthodox monastery in Dolina, a village in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region that was recaptured from Russian forces in the autumn.
Among its ruins are a shattered onion-shaped golden dome, a stucco lion and scattered religious icons -- a scene of destruction that shows the world what Putin's values are, Caesar says.
I am not fighting my motherland. I am fighting against Putin's regime, against evil, he says, switching between Russian and English.
I'm not a traitor. I'm a true Russian patriot who thinks about the future of my country.
The legion created at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine is part of the corps of international volunteers fighting with the Ukrainian army.
Its emblem features a clenched fist with the words Russia and Freedom.
According to Caesar, the legion boasts several hundred Russians who after two months of training were deployed in May to Ukraine's industrial Donbas region, which Moscow is trying to conquer.
Some of its soldiers are now fighting in the town of Bakhmut on the eastern frontline, the scene of several months of fierce battles.
Under the command of Ukrainian forces, they are usually engaged in launching artillery.
They are motivated and professional fighters, they do their job perfectly, a Ukrainian officer tells AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The recruits were subject to several rounds of interviews, psychological tests and even a polygraph to ensure their allegiance, the officer adds.
- Propaganda -
The contribution of the Russian legion to the war effort is even more significant away from the battlefield, says military expert Oleg Zhdanov.
They take part in the war but do not have significant impact due to their small numbers, Zhdanov says.
Their importance is more political. It's good for Ukraine to be able to show that there are Russians who support democracy and freedom and who fight on the right side.
On social media, the legion mainly posts propaganda videos and claims to have received thousands of applications.
Its members all have specific motivations for enlisting, some of them more personal than political.
A man who goes by the call sign Tikhiy, or Silent, is married to a Ukrainian he met in Russia, where they lived with their two children.
The were visiting his wife's family in Kyiv when Russia invaded.
She wouldn't have understood if we stayed in Russia, says the man in his 40s from the southwestern Russian city of Tolyatti.
He has had barely any contact with his family back in Russia since the fighting began.
They've been brainwashed a bit. But I know they're worried about me, he says.
As for his friends, They are sitting on their couch in Russia and repeating: 'We are going to liberate Ukraine,' he adds.
He considers the Russian soldiers as enemies, but while he has applied for Ukrainian citizenship, he won't be able to obtain it until after the war is over.
For the moment, I still have the enemy's passport, he says.
- 'Russia is dying' -
Caesar, the spokesman, used to work as a physiotherapist in Saint Petersburg, Russia's former capital and second-largest city.
He says he has political motivations, describing himself as a right-wing nationalist who believes Putin's regime can only be overthrown by force.
He is unimpressed with Russian forces, calling them puppets, and says his countrymen do not want to see or hear anything.
Russia is dying. Go to the villages, you will see drunks, drug addicts, criminals. People are suffering, he adds.
It's clear, he says, that Putin's two decades in power are to blame.
His system, his government his deputies. All shit. They are losers, corrupt, thieves, who only think of living for money and pleasure. It's no way to run a country, he adds.
After Moscow invaded on February 24, Caesar took his wife and four children to Kyiv, and he said he believes he can speak freely now that they are in Ukraine, where he considers them to be safer.
They too live in fear of the bombardments and in the cold, but they agree with my choices.