If you really want to see what truly worries Vladimir Putin, arm yourself with patience and watch the press conference he attended after the announcement of the results of the rigged elections for a new presidential term.
Attacks by Russian partisan groups, trained by the Ukrainian army, on Belgorod have disrupted the Kremlin leader’s celebration, as he witnesses the expansion of the war onto Russian territory – something he did not consider two years ago when ordering the invasion of Ukraine.
Last week, a few days before the start of the electoral process, air raid sirens began to sound in Belgorod, a city in Russia with over 300,000 inhabitants, near the border with Ukraine.
Dozens of drones appeared in the sky, many of which managed to hit military targets such as fuel depots, army units, police posts, and border guard stations.
Shortly after, ground confrontations were reported, with social media messages indicating that Russian partisan forces fighting against the Putin regime were attacking army units in the Belgorod region.
Wolves from the Free World's Forests
Last May, Russian partisan groups, trained and armed by Ukraine, carried out another raid in Russia, clashing with border guard units, but after hours of intense confrontations, the partisans withdrew to Ukraine.
This time, things were different. The fighting has been ongoing for over a week, with around 2,500 volunteer combatants entering Russia, causing panic throughout the region.
Although Vladimir Putin stated that they would be swiftly eliminated, the fighting continues, and regional authorities have decided to evacuate over 9,000 children from the city due to the danger posed by bombings and drone attacks.
Two days ago, a post appeared on Facebook announcing that the "Romanian Battle Group Getica" was conducting operations in Russia.
"...when we were receiving press teams at Nikolaiv and giving the impression that we weren't doing much for the war effort, in the background, we were preparing a vast operation together with our comrades from the Free Russia Legion, the Siberian Battalion, the Russian Volunteer Corps, Chechens from Ichkeria, free brothers from Belarus, Georgia, and many other
VIDEO. Clip posted by Battlegroup Getica in which a volunteer announces their entry into Russia - Source: Battlegroup Getica/ Facebook
"We have made incursions into their border villages, but we have not found functional police stations, we have not found authorities. Russia is prepared for nuclear war, but is unable to protect its land borders with a country with which it is at war," the post by the Romanian fighters from Getica further stated.
Putin, Harassed
In an interview conducted by spotmedia.ro with Radu Hossu, one of the founders of the combat group, he mentioned that the formation "is in Russia to engage military targets on this territory, not as an invading or occupying force."
"We sleep in forests, under impossible conditions, without running water, without heat. But we feel your warmth, the warmth of free Romanians. We have returned to the ancestral condition of our ancestors, we have merged with the forest, we have become wolves. And we like what we do," described the fighters' state of mind on the group's Facebook page.
In the context of the announcement made by Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, that in the future, if necessary, NATO military personnel could be transferred to Ukraine to thwart Russia's attacks, Vladimir Putin reacted by stating that Western forces were already present there.
Intentionally, the Russian president does not differentiate between volunteers, who decide on their own to get involved in the conflict, and regular troops coordinated by NATO member states' military commands.
However, the fact that Romanian and Moldovan volunteers are fighting in Russia cannot go unnoticed, increasing Vladimir Putin's nervousness and explaining his reaction regarding the Western alliance showing no signs of exhaustion.
The Surprise Element, a Greater Device Than Expected
Getica is "a combat group primarily engaged in gathering information, reconnaissance, and research. These are the basic operations. For this, they need drones to collect data from the field and operationalize it. This time, they happened to fight, to conduct raids in the Belgorod region," stated Radu Hossu to spotmedia.ro.
He explained that the Romanian volunteer group is under the command of the Ukrainian armed forces, who train them, equip them, provide them with weapons, and assign them combat missions.
Now, in Russia, "there is a larger military device than expected, which surprised them more than the direction of the attack. They were surprised by the size of the device, as the Kremlin forces had previously experienced, so to speak, raids in Belgorod, if we remember," stated Radu Hossu.
In the press conference held by Vladimir Putin immediately after winning the elections, the first question he addressed was about the Russian volunteer groups operating in the Belgorod region.
After labeling them as "Nazis" and "traitors," he mentioned that there are around "2,500 combatants," which is not a small number, explaining why the hostilities continue and Kremlin forces have not been able to repel the volunteers' attack.
Radi Hossu stated that, as far as he knows, the number of Russians joining these partisan groups is increasing, and Ukrainian forces encourage the formation of such structures that can best inspire Russians to revolt against Vladimir Putin's dictatorial regime.
The Guardian Angel
No Romanian volunteer has died in the operations in Russia, as stated by Radu Hossu to spotmedia.ro. The only combat-related death of a Romanian citizen was Rudolf Wittman, from Arad, who was killed on October 22 on the Ukrainian front.
Wittman was a veteran of the French Foreign Legion, who returned to his home country after his contract ended. Two months later, in August 2022, he enlisted as a volunteer in the Ukrainian army.
"Rudolf is not just a warrior but a guardian angel of Ukraine, who soared on the wings of his own calling and love for justice... He was the first foreigner to become an agent in SSO (Special Operations Service). His astonishing devotion not only impressed the commanders but also ignited the flame of patriotism among his comrades in arms," stated a communication from the Ukrainian military forces.
Two years ago, Putin hoped to conquer Ukraine in a maximum of two weeks, and now Romanian volunteers are conducting military operations in Russia near Belgorod, supporting a prolonged attack by Russian partisans aiming to overthrow the authoritarian regime in Moscow.