March 30, 2024: Soon after Russia invaded in early 2022, the Ukrainian defenders found that many foreign combat veterans were traveling to Ukraine and offering their services as volunteer fighters. While many of these men were from NATO countries, most were Russians who violently disagreed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and were willing to fight inside Russia to hurt the Russian war effort. Ukraine organized the various foreign contingents into the Ukrainian International Legion. While most of the volunteers are Russian, there are also contingents from Chechnya and Georgia. Since early 2022 the Ukrainian International Legion has attracted several thousand volunteer fighters and more keep showing up. Russia declared any of these men who fought against Russia would be charged with treason if captured and serve a long prison sentence. The volunteers were not hostile towards Russians but towards the Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government. They want Putin and his government gone and replaced with one that is more interested in the welfare of Russians than in invading neighbors. Putin has openly declared his intention to reassemble the Russian empire. Not just the Soviet Union, but the larger empire that existed before the Soviet Union. Putin wants t0 add countries that were never totally subjugated by Russia, like Poland.

Most of these anti-Putin Russian fighters were based in Ukraine and consulted with Ukrainian military intelligence before making an attack into Russia. Most of these raids were against targets near the border. A recent attack destroyed a truck mounted R-330Zh electronic warfare system that was jamming communications needed by Ukrainian UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) to carry out attacks against Russian forces. The R-330Zh also jammed radio communications between combat units and aircraft. The R-330Zh had a range of 24 kilometers against ground targets and 49 kilometers against aerial targets, and has been in service since 2008. The R-330Zh was a very capable system and one that was not easily replaced because it cost $250 million and used many components imported from NATO countries. R-330Zh not only jammed radio communications but also analyzes and reports what types of signals are out there.

These Ukrainian International Legion units also cross into Russia and attack Russian border police or Russian military bases. The Ukrainian International Legion also has commando units that can travel deep into Russians, identifying themselves as Russian citizens, but with new IDs provided by Ukrainian intelligence. These commando units sabotage commercial targets that supply the military. These attacks usually include explosives and that generates massive secondary explosions if the target involves stockpiles of munitions or petroleum products. These attacks have been so frequent that by early 2024 Russia was having a difficult time getting its troops all the fuel they needed. Civilian consumers also suffered from the fuel shortages.