ロシア人大隊、ウクライナ軍内に新設　自国での反体制活動に見切り

【キーウ近郊ＡＦＰ＝時事】ウクライナの首都キーウ近郊の渓谷で、迷彩服を着た兵士の一行が戦闘の基礎を学んでいる。指導に用いられているのはロシア語だ。（写真は、ウクライナ・キーウ近郊で訓練を受ける、同国軍所属の「シベリア大隊」）
　ウクライナ軍内に新設されたこの「シベリア大隊」には、同胞と戦う覚悟でウクライナにやって来たロシア人約５０人が所属している。
　ソバを意味する「グレチハ」というコールサインで呼ばれる兵士は、「ロシアと戦うため、また（ウラジーミル・）プーチン政権、帝国主義と戦うために、一刻も早くウクライナに入ろうと決めた」と話した。
　ロシアによる侵攻が始まると、ウクライナには諸外国から義勇兵が集まった。このうちの大半がウクライナ軍の外国人部隊に加わっており、シベリア大隊もその一部だ。
　隊員には、民族的にはロシア人だが、長く反体制的な意見を持ってきたという兵士もいれば、シベリアの少数民族出身者もいる。
　外国人部隊の報道官によると、ロシア出身兵に不法入国者はいない。「何もかも完全に合法だ。ウクライナに入れるよう、国内外の法律のさまざまな抜け穴を見つける必要がある」と明かした。戦争捕虜は一人もおらず、全員が契約兵だという。
　■ロシア国内での抗議デモは「無意味」
　グレチハさんはウクライナのクリミア半島生まれだが、モスクワで暮らし、救急隊員として働いてきた。侵攻に抗議するデモに何度か参加したが、「無意味」だと悟ったという。
　「現在ロシアは独裁政権で、もちろん極めて不満だ。今自分の身に具体的に影響があるわけではなく、私は刑務所に入っているわけでも、外国のスパイでもないが、国家が国民の自由を徐々に奪っているということは感じている」とグレチハさん。
　昨年ロシアを出国してウクライナ入りしようとしたが、「当初は組織化されておらず、入国方法に関する情報もなかった」ため、ロシア人の入国時にビザ（査証）取得要件のない国々で、主にテントに寝泊まりして過ごした。
　その後、シベリア大隊への入隊希望を受け付けている団体「シビック・カウンシル」の存在を知った。フェイスブックの公式ページによると、拠点はポーランド・ワルシャワにあるという。
　グレチハさんによると、同団体が自身と妻のウクライナ入国を手配してくれた。
　また、スウェーデン人を意味する「シュウェブ」というコールサインで呼ばれる兵士は、「政治的迫害」が理由で１０年以上前にロシアを離れ、２０１１年からスウェーデンで暮らしてきたと話した。「長年、反政府や反プーチンの活動に参加し、外国に移住せざるを得なくなった」
　「この戦争では、人々の自由を守る側に立っているのはウクライナだ」とみているシュウェブさん。「今必要なのは、プーチンのロシアを打倒すること」であり、ひいてはロシアに加えベラルーシでも政変が起こることを願っている。
　「そのためには、ウクライナの勝利が必要だ」とシュウェブさんは強調した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/10/27-16:55）

In a sandy ravine outside Kyiv, a group of soldiers in camouflage were learning the basics of warfare -- in Russian.
A newly-formed battalion within the Ukrainian army is made up of some 50 Russians who have come to fight against their fellow citizens.
I took the decision to get into Ukraine as soon as possible to fight against Russia, against the Putin regime, against imperialism, said one fighter, who goes by the call sign Grecha (Buckwheat).
The war in Ukraine has attracted a motley bunch of foreign volunteers, most of whom serve in the army's International Legion, which also incorporates the Siberian Battalion.
Fighters covered their faces and did not want to give their names.
They were a varied group -- both ethnic Russians with long-standing opposition views and members of Siberia's minority ethnic groups.
This is not the only Russian unit fighting for Ukraine.
This spring, two others came into the spotlight after brief incursions across the Russian border: the Russian Volunteer Corps, which has links to the far-right and football hooligans, and another unit called the Freedom of Russia Legion.
- 'Absolutely legal' -
The International Legion's spokesman said he could not give details about how the Russians enter Ukraine but said some come in small groups, others alone.
We don't bring them over in car boots, he stressed.
It's not illegal crossings. It's all absolutely legal. We need to look for various loopholes within international and Ukrainian legislation so they can get into Ukraine.
None are prisoners-of-war, he said, and they are on military contracts.
Grecha said he was born in Ukraine's Crimea but had lived in Moscow, working as a paramedic.
We need to free Ukraine, the motherland where I was born in Crimea, that's my dream, he said.
He said his political views are not clearly defined but they are more liberal than in Russia now.
Grecha added that he had joined opposition protests against the war but felt they were pointless.
In Russia at the moment there is a dictatorship which of course I am extremely unhappy about, because it might not concretely affect me right now: I'm not in jail, I'm not a foreign agent but I feel the state gives less and less freedom to its citizens, the fighter said.
Sooner or later it will be one big concentration camp, basically it already is.
He left Russia last year and sought to enter Ukraine, but at first there was no organisation, there was no information about how to get in.
He spent time in countries that are visa-free for Russians, living mainly in a tent.
He said he eventually found an organisation called the Civic Council, which says on its website that it recruits for the Siberian Battalion. Its Facebook page says it is in Warsaw.
Grecha said the organisation agreed his transit along with his wife.
I spent some time waiting in third countries and at one wonderful moment they wrote to me that we can go out, they provided the route and that way we got into Ukraine.
He admitted he had not told his parents he was joining up.
They have different views on this war. We've talked about this topic many times and argued many times.
- 'We need victory' -
Another fighter -- Shved (Swede) -- said he had left Russia more than a decade ago because of political persecution and had lived in Sweden since 2011.
I had taken part in anti-government, anti-Putin activities for a long time and was forced to emigrate, he said, calling himself an anarchist and partially concealing his face.
Prominent Russians known to have joined the Siberian Battalion include Alexei Makarov, a former member of the National Bolshevik Party who was granted refuge in Sweden, and anti-Kremlin activist Ildar Dadin.
In this war, Ukraine stands on the side of people's freedom, Shved said, adding that he began fighting last summer with another unit.
I see what needs to be done now is to achieve the defeat of Putin's Russia, he said, hopeful that this would spark political change in Russia and Belarus.
And for that we need Ukraine's victory.