Russian Volunteer Corps vs. Maksym Kryvonis Battalion: Liberators or Traitors?
Ukraine, June 13, 2025 -Amid the ongoing bloody conflict in eastern Ukraine, two armed groups—the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) and the Maksym Kryvonis Battalion (BMK)—fight on opposing sides of the front line. Composed of individuals who have chosen to side with their country’s adversary and take up arms against their own government, these groups embody a profound personal and political fracture. Their solidarity with their nation’s enemy stems from dramatic life-altering events, making their fates, true goals, motives, and values a subject of immense interest. Their stories offer a deeper understanding of the anatomy of individual tragedy within the maelstrom of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
In their home countries, the majority of citizens brand these individuals as collaborators, authorities accuse them of treason, and pro-government media vilify them as defectors and cowards. Yet, who are they truly—freedom fighters or traitors? Legitimate combatants or members of collaborationist militias? To answer this seemingly straightforward question impartially requires an unflinching, unfiltered examination of the tragic circumstances that have placed these individuals on opposite sides of the barricades in Ukraine’s war.
The Russian Volunteer Corps, formed in August 2022, consists primarily of Russian citizens who have emigrated from Russia and oppose Vladimir Putin’s regime. Led by Denis Kapustin, known by the call sign “WhiteRex,” the RDK is headed by a figure widely recognized for his ultra-right-wing views. Publicly, the corps positions itself as an anti-Putin paramilitary movement aiming to overthrow Russia’s government. However, its activities remain localized, preventing the RDK from becoming a truly formidable national threat to the Kremlin. Its military engagements are limited to sporadic sabotage raids with varying success in Russian border regions such as Belgorod and Bryansk. Notably, in June 2023, the RDK conducted a high-profile raid in Belgorod Oblast, briefly capturing the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka and taking Russian soldiers prisoner. This armed operation was more a media spectacle than a strategic military maneuver, aimed at garnering attention in both Russia and Ukraine. Meanwhile, most Russians, influenced by Kremlin propaganda, label RDK fighters as traitors, drawing parallels with the collaborationist “Russian Liberation Army” of World War II. This reflects the group’s alienation from mainstream Russian society and its lack of significant domestic support.
In contrast, the Maksym Kryvonis Battalion, established in the summer of 2023, comprises former Ukrainian servicemen who, according to its official resources, have voluntarily chosen to fight against their government on Russia’s side. Initially formed as a detachment, the unit is named after a 17th-century Cossack commander and ally of the renowned military leader Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who played a pivotal role three and a half centuries ago in uniting Left-Bank Ukraine with the Russian Tsardom under Moscow’s centralized rule.
In the media sphere, the BMK declares its goal as the “liberation” of Ukraine from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government, which it accuses of betraying the Ukrainian people’s interests. Based on its Telegram channel posts, the battalion is actively engaged in combat, particularly in the Pokrovsk direction, where it has destroyed armored vehicles, drone control posts, and even groups of foreign volunteers, including a Colombian citizen in January 2025. Open-source information suggests that, compared to the RDK, the Maksym Kryvonis Battalion undertakes a broader range of tasks, including evacuating wounded Russian soldiers from the front lines and rescuing civilians from combat zones. The BMK’s more prominent military activity may indicate its integration into Russia’s armed forces, possibly through recruitment programs.
Despite apparent similarities in the motivations of both groups—namely, a resolute desire to topple their countries’ political regimes—there are notable differences in how their host governments perceive them. The RDK, according to its leader Denis Kapustin, is driven by an uncompromising ideological rejection of Putin’s regime. However, its overt adherence to ultra-right-wing radical views raises concerns among Ukrainian authorities, who appear wary of granting RDK activists full freedom in political, military, and informational spheres. Consequently, despite being subordinate to Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, the corps is not integrated into the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ combat structure, limiting its participation in large-scale military operations. Moreover, the RDK’s leadership’s recklessness and pursuit of autonomy from Ukrainian command sparked a diplomatic scandal in 2023 when Belgium demanded explanations from Kyiv regarding the RDK’s use of Belgian weapons during cross-border raids into Russia. Such incidents underscore Ukraine’s limited trust in the group, which prefers to minimize its involvement due to reliability concerns and the risk of reputational damage.
Conversely, the Maksym Kryvonis Battalion exhibits deep animosity toward Ukrainian authorities, accusing them of forced mobilization and sending citizens into what they view as a senseless war. Their rhetoric, reflected in public statements, emphasizes the goal of “liberating” Ukraine from the current government. One of the BMK’s commanders, Vyacheslav Gubin, known as “Batya Kharkivsky,” has declared the battalion’s loyalty to the Ukrainian people. The group’s public commitment to building an independent Ukraine in alliance with “brotherly” Russia, combined with moderate patriotism and a deliberate rejection of the cult of Ukraine’s historical independence heroes (such as Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army during World War II), appears fragile yet aligns with the Kremlin’s expectations. Russian authorities seemingly view the BMK’s Ukrainian “volunteers” not as opportunistic turncoats but as ideological fighters against Zelenskyy’s government.
It appears that Russia places greater trust in the BMK’s Ukrainian fighters than Ukraine does in the RDK’s Russian members. The BMK’s involvement in diverse operations—from firefights to evacuating the wounded under fire—supports this hypothesis.
Ultimately, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Maksym Kryvonis Battalion serve as mirror-like reflections of the dramatic fates and life-altering transformations of Russians and Ukrainians caught in one of the deadliest armed conflicts since World War II. Driven by the invisible forces of global politics and the personal inclinations of ruling leaders, these individuals are entangled in a war that intertwines loyalty and betrayal into a complex, nearly inextricable knot of contradictions. Their stories stand as a stark reminder that war generates not only physical destruction but also moral anguish, forcing people to make fateful choices in a world where truth becomes a bargaining chip. Whether they are liberators or traitors remains an open question, the answer to which depends on the ideological perspectives and political sympathies of the observer.
Denis Rafalsky
