[19] Since 22 May 2023, the Legion has launched cross-border raids into the Belgorod region of Russia, alongside the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC)[11][20] and the Sibir Battalion.

He called on his compatriots, soldiers of the Russian army, to join the Freedom of Russia Legion in order to save their own people and the country "from humiliation and destruction".

[22] The Legion's stated goals are to repel the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ultimately depose the silovik regime of Vladimir Putin.

[2] The Legion's official Telegram channel was created on 10 March 2022, and its first post called on people to join the armed struggle against the "war criminal Putin".

On 5 April, three men wearing military fatigues and black balaclavas held a press conference in Kyiv, announcing that the Freedom of Russia Legion had been formed.

He reportedly "threw a grenade into the ventilation hole in the basement of the "Storm Zet" unit's headquarters, where his commander and other Russian officers were sleeping.

[37] The group believes that Putin's regime can be toppled only by armed struggle,[27] and calls upon Russian officers and soldiers to defect.

[37] Caesar, former member of the ultranationalist, and neo-Nazi[41] Russian Imperial Movement,[38] described himself as a right-wing nationalist,[27] but said that "we adhere to moderate centrist views.

"[42] Michael Clarke, a visiting professor of war studies at King's College London, said in May 2023: "It's clear that Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps are both predominantly Russian groups — self-styled 'partisans' trying to bring the Putin government down and that they range from the soccer-thug neo-Nazis to the wannabe celebrities and even to some semi-serious political reformers.

On 22 June 2022, Nikolay Okhlopkov, a Russian anti-war activist from Yakutsk, was arrested because the authorities accused him of "wanting to join the Legion."

On 14 July 2022, Putin signed a new law, under which Russian citizens can be imprisoned for up to 20 years if they "defect to the side of the enemy during an armed conflict or hostilities.

"[24][47][48] In March 2023 the Supreme Court of Russia declared the Legion a terrorist group meaning citizens who join can face up to 20 years in jail.

[24] State-controlled Russian media and pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have promoted claims calling the Legion fake or alleging it was created by Ukrainian intelligence.

Illia Ponomarenko, defense and security reporter at The Kyiv Independent, commented to The Moscow Times: "There might be some [Russian] fighters, but whether it is organized in the way it is presented remains an open question ...