VLADIMIR Putin has ordered his spies to hunt down and execute the “traitorous” Russian rebels fighting for Ukraine and causing havoc in his borderlands.
The humiliated tyrant, 71, today demanded his most lethal secret service agents root out the brave freedom fighters and “punish them without a statute of limitations”.
APVladimir Putin delivering his venom-filled speech at the FSB HQ today as he embarrassingly has to evacuate a border region[/caption]
Liberty of Russia LegionThe pro-Kyiv fighters have claimed control of two villages and are shelling two cities[/caption]
Igor Sushko / TwitterThe moment before RDK fighters take out a Russian tank from close proximity[/caption]
Igor Sushko / TwitterSmoke billows out the back as an explosion hits the centre of the fast-moving tank[/caption]
Putin spoke to top FSB commanders as he faced the ignominy of evacuating 9,000 children from Belgorod region because he cannot keep the region safe.
The region, which borders Ukraine, has been under attack from Ukrainian drone strikes, constant shelling and saboteur mayhem.
However, since last week – three ragtag battalions of anti-Putin insurgents have been battling government troops and capturing territory.
Plainly furious, the despot told his secret service high command: “All attempts to break through our territory [by] subversion-terrorist gangs, consisting of regular units of the enemy, foreign mercenaries… and all kinds of scum who found themselves in the territory of the Kyiv regime through various channel.
Addressing the FSB Board at the security service’s notorious Lubyanka HQ in Moscow, he continued: “All these attempts failed. I want to draw your attention to this in this regard.
“When I spoke about these traitors, I ask you, as this has always been the case in our history, not to forget who they are, to reveal them by name.
“We will punish them without a statute of limitations, wherever they are.”
The evacuation move comes amid daily shelling of the Belgorod region, and incursions into frontier villages by the anti-dictator Russian partisans.
Putin’s diatribe was the first time he had acknowledged the force of attacks from Russian rebels opposed to him.
The embittered despot went to war promising Russians to make his country safe – but has done the opposite, leaving his border areas pitifully vulnerable.
At sunrise on March 12, rebels from the Russian Freedom Legion (RFL), Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) and Siberian Battalion (SB) launched an unprecedented two-pronged cross-border assault on their homeland.
The political head of Russian armed resistance, Ilya Ponomarev, told The Sun last week that his Ukraine-supporting partisans were ready to take the fight to Vlad as part of “Operation Freedom”.
The ex-Russian MP said: “This is absolutely the largest assault we have led and it is finally a joint operation of all three Russian [partisan] regiments.”
“Now, this is a large-scale operation — we are attacking several directions simultaneously and our fighters are experienced, trained,” Ponomarev added.
Despite having a limited arsenal, the pro-Kyiv fighters have battled on in Belgorod and Kursk and have now taken hold of at least two Russian villages.
Today, the RDK shared a dramatic video of their fighter disabling a Russian army tank in an ambush in Belgorod.
The Russian rebels shared a picture brandishing their flags after taking a second village
Liberty of RussiaThe anti-Putin rebels are fighting in Belgorod and Kursk[/caption]
Who are the partisans?
DETERMINED to take the fight to Putin, Ukraine-supporting Russian partisans have been repeatedly launching raids and assaults in Russia’s borderlands.
The “freedom fighters” – which are independent groups of mostly Russian citizens – formed recently in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Since then, they have been going from strength to strength with the explicit aim of finally ending the Kremlin regime.
On March 12, the anti-Putin paramilitaries launched their largest attack on their homeland yet and claim to have now captured two villages.
Fighters from the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL), Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) and Siberian Battalion (SB) launched a joint attack on the Russian border regions of both Belgorod and Kursk.
They stated their goal was to disrupt Putin’s sham elections last week and “take our land back from [Putin’s] regime centimetre by centimetre”.
The Russian defence ministry has been forced to admit that settlements are under siege from the armed rebels as shelling and their attacks continue.
Their political head, Ilya Ponomarev, told The Sun they had been conducting constant small-scale raids since September to keep the pressure on Russian defences.
They are also fighting for Ukraine in some of its bloodiest battles raging across its 600-mile front.
Late last May – prior to the Wagner Group’s explosive but aborted mutiny in June – fighters from the FRL and RDK stormed across the border in tanks and led the biggest assault on Russian soil since Putin rose to power.
In a days-long battle, they “liberated” eight villages in the Belgorod region, even taking Russian soldiers captive and embarrassing Putin on the world stage.
In December, The Sun spoke to a senior commander in the legion, Caesar, who vowed that Russia is ready to explode and promised to light its fuse in 2024.
Caesar – who is now the face of the newest large-scale assault into Russia – explained: “That’s why Putin is very, very afraid of us.”
He warned Russia that his “warriors” will stop at nothing to “free our motherland” and “save Ukraine” in the process.
“We are the first military regiment who clearly and loudly says that only a struggle by force can change the power in Russia.”
The commander said they have a combined force of thousands of brave Russians behind them – those who are willing to risk their lives to secure a “brighter future” for Russia.
East2WestPutin telling FSB high command to root out the ‘scum’ rebels who are battling government troops in the Belgorod and Kursk[/caption]
East2WestRussian partisan fighters in Belgorod region in recent days[/caption]
Yesterday, a picture shared on Telegram shows members of the SB and RDK brandishing their flags in the Russian village of Kozinka.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov this week announced the evacuation and sent 1,200 children away from the new frontline, where the paramilitaries have been active in shelling and cross-frontier forays.
Later evacuees will be sent to the region of Stavropol, including the kids from the city of Belgorod that has been under sustained fire in recent days.
The evacuation order is a stark admission that despite boasting on the strength of his armed forces, Putin is unable to properly defend a key Russian city.
For days, the anti-Kremlin groups have urged civilians to immediately evacuate their homes ahead of what they called “massive strikes“.
Partisan forces claimed “more than 7,000 civilian vehicles of residents of Belgorod and the Belgorod region” heeded their call to evacuate.
Governor Gladkov claimed that a 14-year-old child, 14, lost a hand after it was blown off in shelling of the village of Razumnoye.
The teenager’s mother was also said to be wounded.
“In total, we have 16 civilians killed and 98 wounded during the past week, including a girl who has just lost her arm during shelling,” Gladkov said.
He has also admitted that the villages of Gora-Podol, Glotovo and Gruzskoye are under siege.
The Russian Ministry of Defence reported downing nine Ukrainian RM-70 Vampire missiles in Belgorod today.
“Duty air defence systems destroyed nine rockets in the air over the Belgorod region,” they claimed.
Ukraine’s armed forces have denied their involvement in the attack and said the paramilitary groups are “independent organisations” of Russian citizens who are operating at “home”.
GettyIlya Ponomarev, the political head of the resistance groups, told The Sun that their goal is to disrupt the elections and inspire others to take up arms against Putin[/caption]
The Siberian Battalion (SB) released headcam footage from the ongoing assault last week
Liberty of Russia Legion artillerymen claimed to have destroyed two of Putin’s ammunition depots at once
A truck burst into flames in the middle of a street in Belgorod
The attack led to the suspension of polling in Belgorod city
ReutersA local resident stands next to a damaged car hit by shelling in Belgorod[/caption]