Russian soldier describes turning on his country to fight for Ukraine, driven by disgust at Putin's invasion: 'I've killed a lot of them'

• A Russian soldier fighting to defend Ukraine says he's killed many of his own countrymen in the war.
• The New York Times gained access to the little-known Free Russia Legion in Ukraine.

A Russian soldier fighting for Ukraine has described his disgust at President Vladimir Putin's war, saying he has no regrets about killing his own countrymen, The New York Times reported.

The soldier, who was identified only by his callsign "Caesar" for his own security, is one of several hundred Russians who have opted to defend Ukraine against their own country's invasion.

Caesar told the newspaper that a "real Russian" doesn't participate in atrocities like rape and the killing of civilians, actions which it has been widely reported that Russian troops have engaged in.

"That's why I don't have remorse. I do my job and I've killed a lot of them," he told the Times.

According to the Times, the Free Russia Legion operates under the umbrella of the International Legion, a grouping of units that includes volunteers from all over the world.

The newspaper said many of the Russians are fighting near Bakhmut, the fiercely-held eastern Ukrainian city that has been the focus of attack by pro-Russian forces in recent weeks.

Though the International Legion was set up just a few days after Putin's forces invaded in 2022, units of Russian volunteers were only legalized in August, the Times reported.

While Ukraine has been keen to elevate displays of solidarity from citizens of other countries, the Russian units have been kept under wraps due to their high sensitivity and the risk of retaliation, it added.

Some of the Russian troops were already living in Ukraine when the war broke out, but others traveled to Ukraine after the invasion, disgusted by their country's aggression, the Times reported.

The units are strictly vetted and overseen by Ukrainian commanders.

Caesar told the Times that despite his former membership of the Russian Imperial Movement, an ultra-nationalist group, he was quickly convinced that his own country was heading in the wrong direction.

He described the men he was fighting against as not true Russians, calling himself, by contrast, "an example of a man that Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky wrote about."

"That's the kind of man I am. Not them. They aren't Russian," he told the newspaper.