Brave Russian volunteers defy Vladimir Putin to help desperate refugees from Ukraine – World News

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Volunteers have helped save around 1,000 refugees from devastation in Mariupol, Ukraine. The brave Russians face harsh penalties if caught – but they want to help the Ukrainians

Brave anti-war Russians help desperate Ukrainian refugees from Mariupol to safety.

The volunteers, who face severe penalties if caught, are working with Ukrainian escape organizer Olexandr Fedorov, whose headquarters are in a tent on the Polish border.

He says they helped save around 1,000 refugees.

Olexandr, 48, said: “There are only two ways out of Mariupol – west to Ukraine, which is incredibly risky because of the shelling, or to Russia.

“To save lives, we had to work with Russian volunteers.

“These people are against the war. They asked our forgiveness.”

Many Ukrainians from Mariupol ended up in camps in remote areas of Russia. Others who pass checks and interrogations have been left to fend for themselves across the vast country.

But Olexandr and his anti-Putin allies even helped some escape Russia and flee to Europe by putting them on trains to St. Petersburg.

“From there they go to Estonia,” said Olexandr.

Putin responds to any Russian who speaks out against his barbaric war.

Calling his “military special operation” an invasion could result in 15 years in prison. But resistance is slowly growing, experts believe.

A Russian military court last month sentenced 115 National Guard members who refused to fight.

And there have been reports of Russian troops defecting to fight alongside the Ukrainians.