00:04If Russian President Vladimir Putin is killed, the entire Russian people will be grateful.
00:10This is what Shamil Shmel Lukashev, a fighter from Ossetia and a member of the Freedom of
00:16Russia Legion, said in an interview with the commander-in-chief. He said he signed the
00:21contract on September 27, 2021, and on January 9, 2022, he was sent to Crimea, allegedly for
00:29training. When we were sent to Ukraine on February 24, I was looking for civilians from the very first
00:36days who could get me out. A few days later, I walked towards the Ukrainians to the Troitsky
00:42Regional Defense Forces. They were the majority at the time. When I got there, I told them where I was
00:48from. After a while, they told me about the existence of the Freedom of Russia Legion.
00:54I asked to be taken there, said Shmel. The fighter noted that he would never have believed that Ukraine
00:59wanted to attack Russia, seize any territories, etc., because it's clear to everyone that as of 2022,
01:07Ukraine didn't have such forces. Now, as a result of this war, Ukraine has an army that can fight
01:13back against Russia. That wasn't the case back then, he said. Answering the question of how the
01:19Russian army's equipment has changed since 2022, given that the first Russian prisoners of war had low
01:25quality ammunition, expired first aid kits, and terrible rations. Lucas have noted that they were
01:31well-equipped in 2022, except for the first aid kit, which was from World War II. Now, in 2025 to
01:402026,
01:41the Kalashnikovs, the prisoners have are all old. New ones are very rare. The equipment doesn't even
01:47have time to arrive. It's destroyed en route. So right now, the main war is a drone war,
01:52the soldier emphasized. When asked about the general level of training of the Russian invaders,
01:58Shmel noted that it had worsened. Lucas have said he initially served in the 3rd Battalion of the
02:04503rd Regiment. There were men there who had seen combat, particularly in Syria. Most were from the
02:11Caucasus, and in the Caucasus, most guys are physically fit. They've been involved in wrestling, boxing, and
02:18other sports since childhood. These days, those who are captured are mostly either elderly or very young
02:25and thin. And everyone says they were simply conscripted and sent to be butchered. It's clear
02:31they have no idea where they're going or what they're doing. They're simply forced to march forward in
02:36pairs. They're captured, and they say, we were told our people were here, so they sent us away, the fighter
02:42said.
02:43When asked how Russian residents react to the Legion's fighters, for example, if they conduct operations
02:49in border areas, Shmel noted that it's difficult for him to say, since, any civilian in a village where
02:56Ukrainians are located will support the Ukrainians. If there are Russians there, he'll say, we were waiting
03:02for you to avoid being killed. Some might be happy, some might be lying. But I can say that if
03:08Putin is killed,
03:09the entire Russian people will be grateful, he emphasized.
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