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quick facts

- there is no evidence to support the claim that "the russian free army has established a provisional government in kursk". the corps mentioned in the claim is a voluntary armed organization composed of russian citizens supporting the ukrainian camp. the organization often posts information on social platforms, but has not published any content related to the establishment of the so-called "new russia" provisional government. the pictures included in the screenshots are all old pictures circulated on social platforms.

- although the free russian army is suspected of planning limited cross-border attacks in 2023, there is currently no evidence that the free russian army has penetrated into kursk. previously, according to the new york times, the organization's main activities were near the ukrainian city of bakhmut.

background

recently, a picture with the title "breaking news: russian free army established a provisional government in kursk" was circulated on chinese and foreign social platforms. the picture said: "on september 7, the russian free army established a provisional government in kursk and named it 'new russia'. it has now reported to the united nations. the un security council promised to implement the status of new russia as soon as possible and urged the army of 'new russia' to speed up the process of liberating the russian people."

the screenshot is accompanied by three images showing a blue and white flag and a group of armed military personnel.

check

what is the "free russian army"?

in may 2023, a rare attack occurred on the ukrainian border in belgorod oblast, russia. the new york times reported at the time that the person who claimed responsibility for the incident was a volunteer organization supporting the ukrainian camp, called the "free russian legion", also known as the "free russian legion" (frl).

according to reports, the free russian army was established in august 2022 and is a volunteer armed organization composed of russian citizens. the organization is affiliated with the ukrainian international legion, which is a combat force composed of american and british volunteers as well as belarusians, georgians and others, supervised by the ukrainian armed forces and commanded by ukrainian officers.

the "free russian army" often releases unverified videos on social platforms such as x and telegram to show its "combat results" in conflicts. for example, on july 29 this year, the "free russian army" posted a picture and text on telegram saying that their mortars "are fighting in key areas of the front line, showing amazing accuracy and power."

on september 11, the x-platform account of the "free russian legion" tweeted that in the vorchansk direction, advance members of the organization's "groza" platoon destroyed the enemy's "murom-m" integrated surveillance system and the user's communication repeater.

it should be pointed out that although the free russian army claims to have been "officially recognized" by the ukrainian armed forces, ukraine has not made a clear statement on this. when the bbc reported on the organization in june last year, andriy yusov of the kyiv intelligence agency said that the russian free army "operated independently" on russian territory and that ukrainians did not intervene. ukrainian tv called it a militia and "russian volunteers."

in this regard, dr. marina miron of king's college london expressed doubts in an interview with the bbc, believing that volunteer forces such as the "free russian army" "definitely rely on external support and information from the ukrainian intelligence services." she doubted whether organizations such as the "free russian army" were able to cross the russian border to launch attacks without the support of ukrainian troops and obtain western equipment such as humvee military vehicles. after the belgorod attack in may 2023, the financial times also quoted a ukrainian military intelligence official as saying that the ukrainian government knew about the operation but did not claim direct involvement.

the "free russian legion" established the "new russia" provisional government in kursk?

the screenshots circulated online claimed that the "new russia" interim government was established on september 7, which was the ukrainian intelligence workers' day. a review of the telegram and x accounts of the "free russian legion" found that the "free russian legion" posted a message on september 7 to congratulate ukrainian military intelligence officials, but other than that, the organization has not issued any statements related to the establishment of the so-called "new russia" interim government.

searching for keywords such as "free russian legion novorossiya" in english, russian, and ukrainian did not find any evidence to support the online rumors.

there are three pictures attached to the screenshot. a reverse search found that these pictures are all old pictures circulated on social platforms. the picture on the far left shows the "white-blue-white" flag of the "free russian legion", which was quoted by the ukrainian newspaper pravda in march this year.

the pictures in the middle and on the right do not show the "free russian legion", but another paramilitary organization, the "russian volunteer corps". these pictures have appeared at least in may 2023 and cannot be used as evidence to support the online rumors.

although the free russian army claimed in may 2023 that it had planned attacks in russia, there is currently no evidence that the free russian army has penetrated into kursk. previously, according to the new york times, the organization's main activities were near the ukrainian city of bakhmut.

in august, the free russian army called on russian troops to surrender or switch sides after ukraine invaded russia's kursk oblast. the kiev independent reported on this and said that although the army had carried out limited cross-border attacks earlier this year and in 2023, there was no indication that the army was involved in this operation. the statement of the army also did not directly mention kursk.

at present, no information related to the "provisional 'new russia' government in kursk" has been published on the un website. according to the information provided by the russian federation in response to the report of the secretary-general of the united nations to the 79th session of the general assembly on the progress in the implementation of the declaration on measures to eliminate international terrorism, in 2023, the supreme court of the russian federation designated a number of organizations as "terrorist organizations", including the "free russian legion".

on september 12, the kyiv independent, politico and other media reported that the russian army had launched a counterattack in kursk, and ukrainian president zelensky confirmed the news. deepstate, a ukrainian war mapping project affiliated with the ukrainian ministry of defense, said on the 10th that the russian army broke through the ukrainian defense line in the northwest of korenievo village and entered snagost. the us think tank "institute for the study of war (isw)" confirmed the breakthrough and said that the russian army may have recaptured several small settlements.

in summary, there is no evidence to support the online rumor that "the russian free army established a provisional government in kursk". the corps mentioned in the rumor is a voluntary armed organization composed of russian citizens supporting the ukrainian camp. the organization often posts information on social platforms, but has not published any content related to the establishment of the so-called "new russia" provisional government. the pictures included in the screenshots are all old pictures circulated on social platforms.

although the free russian army is suspected of planning limited cross-border attacks in 2023, there is currently no evidence that the free russian army has penetrated into kursk. previously, according to the new york times, the organization's main activities were near the ukrainian city of bakhmut.

the paper intern huang ying also contributed to this article.