Siberian Battalion Seeks Victory for Ukraine and an End to Moscow’s Dominance of Regions and Republics

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 29 – Those involved in the promotion and activities of the Siberian Battalion, Anastasiya Sergeyeva says, want to fight to bring about the victory of Ukraine against Russia and an end to Moscow’s unfettered control over the regions and republics within the current borders of the Russian Federation.

            In an interview with RFI’s Russian Service, the international secretary of the Civic Council which oversees the group says that this “core of a liberation army” hopes to contribute to Ukraine’s victory and Moscow’s defeat (rfi.fr/ru/россия/20230928-наша-ближайшая-задача-создать-ядро-освободительной-армии-что-известно-о-сибирском-батальоне).

            Vlad Ammosov, who came up with the idea of a Siberian Battalion and who is himself an ethnic Sakha, Sergeyeva says, has as “his dream a Free Sakha, free regions of Siberia and other parts of the Russian Federation in which human rights and the well-being of ordinary citizens has importance.”

            Ammosov, she continues, is a former GRU officer who underwent his own process of “de-imperialization” as a result of his career experiences. Now, she says, “he like a majority of residents of Siberia wants sufficient decentralization to guarantee that no bosses will be able to run the regions having seized the power resources in the Kremlin.”

            Most of those in the battalion, Sergeyeva says, are Russians who have fled abroad because of Putin’s war in Ukraine. The group is entirely financed by contributions from émigré Russians and some inside the Russian Federation who recognize that in the current situation, only armed struggle can make a difference.