Russian opposition group posts video of what appears to be an antiwar flag above Moscow following purported cross-border raid

• Videos appear to show a Russian opposition flag being carried by balloons above Moscow.
• The videos were posted by a group calling itself the “Liberty of Russia Legion.”
• Earlier in the day the group claimed credit for a raid on a Russian village near Ukraine.

The blue-and-white flag adopted by Russia’s antiwar opposition could be seen in the heart of Moscow on Monday, according to videos posted by an armed group that earlier in the day claimed credit for an attack on a Russian village near the border with Ukraine.

The Liberty of Russia Legion is ostensibly comprised of Russian dissidents who oppose their country’s war in Ukraine. In recent weeks it has claimed to have carried out a number of cross-border raids in the southwestern Russian region of Belgorod, with the group on Monday even asserting that it had carried out the “liberation” of several villages in the area.

The Russian government has acknowledged an attack of some sort occurred on Monday, describing the perpetrators as “saboteurs,” according to RIA Novosti, a Russian state news agency. The region’s governor has since imposed a communications lockdown and said civilians are fleeing in the wake of a “counter-terrorist operation,” Reuters reported.

While Ukraine hosts the group, an advisor to the government in Kyiv described its members as Russian nationals. Its civilian leader is Ilya Ponomarev, a former Russian lawmaker who opposed Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion and now lives in Ukraine.

Following the purported attacks, the Liberty of Russia Legion posted videos on social media that appear to show the Russian opposition flag being lifted by balloons in the skies above Moscow.

Insider could not independently verify the claims, and the group did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a building seen in one video posted by the group can be clearly identified as Moscow State University, which is less than 6 miles from the Kremlin.

“While we are fighting liberation battles in the border area, our flag is flying in the center of Moscow,” the group said in a post on Telegram. “Russia will be free!”

A spokesperson for the Russian government did not immediately return a request for comment.

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