INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ten years ago, Alexander Krasnogorodtsev, an artist from St
while.Instead, the 24-year-old drove to Rostov-on-Don, a city about 1,500 kilometers to the south, crossed the Ukrainian border and joined
the pro-Russia militias that had just launched an armed uprising against the government in Kyiv.Krasnogorodtsev is among the thousands of
Russian citizens who, in the spring and summer of 2014, joined the armed insurgency in eastern Ukraine that marked the initial phase of
Russia's covert invasion of its neighbor.During the conflict's early stages, Russia refrained from direct military intervention in eastern
Russia largely relied on a network of nationalist and paramilitary organizations that recruited, trained and dispatched volunteers to the
front lines.The Moscow Times interviewed several men who fought as volunteers or organized the recruitment of volunteers in the Donbas about
the events of the spring and summer of 2014.These events would set off a bitter eight-year conflict between Kyiv and Moscow-backed forces
2022.MotivationsRussian citizens who joined the Donbas conflict in the spring of 2014 were backers of the insurgency against Ukraine's new
pro-Western government formed after the Maidan Revolution, which they saw as illegitimate and believed encroached on the rights of Russian
also motivated many Russian volunteers to join the insurgency.Many among them were Russian nationalists and imperialists who saw the
was mostly limited to street clashes between supporters of Maidan and backers of Russia.But on April 12, a group of armed men led by former
FSB officer Igor "Strelkov" Girkin crossed from Russia into Ukraine
This group, made up of both Russians and Ukrainians, with the help of local fighters, seized control of the Sloviansk administrative
building, taking control of the city.The next day, the government in Kyiv announced the start of an anti-terrorist operation against the
Stanislav Vorobyov, 63, the head of the Russian Imperial Movement, an ultra-nationalist organization based in St
network of Russian nationalist and paramilitary organizations played a major role in organizing, training and sending volunteers to fight in
oversaw the recruitment of volunteer fighters.Members of Donbas self-defense units fighting on the side of the separatists in the town of
Sloviansk, Ukraine, in April 2014.Mikhail Pochuyev / TASSHis organization facilitated Girkin and his men's crossing over the border by using
a van that was allegedly smuggling a cargo of apples into Ukraine.According to Gubarev, his organization alone recruited about 2,000
supporting the separatist cause.The volunteer recalls his unit fighting with rusted Kalashnikovs and grenade launchers dating back to World
War II.As part of Girkin's garrison, he struggled to hold the city, hoping for Russia to intervene like it did in Crimea
However, this intervention never materialized
By early July, Strelkov and his men were forced to abandon the city, which was then liberated by Ukrainian troops.By this time, the armed
uprising had spread to other cities in the Donbas region.Following their retreat from Sloviansk, Krasnogorodtsev and his unit were deployed
to defend the separatist-held city of Ilovaisk near Donetsk
It was there that he was wounded in the arm from grenade shrapnel and had to return to Russia.Despite a continuous influx of Russian
regular Russian soldiers engaged in combat in Ukraine.By late August, Girkin resigned as defense minister of the Donetsk People's Republic
and was replaced by leaders directly controlled by Moscow.Following Russia's military intervention, separatist forces inflicted a heavy
Pochuyev / TASSMany volunteers interviewed by The Moscow Times criticized the Minsk agreement as a missed opportunity to inflict a
and captured the whole of Ukraine with no resistance, but that decision was not taken and now we all understand what a catastrophic and
works as an art teacher and painter in St
and its allies as existential for its independence.Today, the Russian Imperial Movement is still training soldiers in St
Eremeev says, referring to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022
