The Telegraph: Hundreds Of Russian Soldiers Secretly Work For Ukraine
- 13.10.2024, 11:56
The results exceeded expectations.
Ukrainian special services have a large network of agents in the Russian army who carry out espionage and sabotage missions. The Atesh partisan movement has more than 2,000 resistance fighters operating in the shadows across all occupied territories and in Russia itself, infiltrating deep within the Russian military, writes The Telegraph.
Journalists spoke with representatives of the Atesh guerrilla movement, founded in Crimea in the summer of 2022, which has already significantly expanded its activities. The guerrilla group collaborates with Ukrainian intelligence as well as other resistance movements, relying on locals’ intimate knowledge of the land and, increasingly, Russian soldiers themselves.
“We are constantly growing. Almost from the very beginning, Russian soldiers have been joining us, helping to obtain information both on the front line and in the rear in Crimea and Russia. But we are currently seeing a significant increase in the number of Russian soldiers joining our ranks. They are a major tool in supporting our struggle, performing critical sabotage and intelligence tasks,” the movement spokesman said.
According to the Atesh representative, dozens of Russians thrust into a war they didn’t want to fight have become valuable assets. They provide information on troop movements, weapons and ammunition deliveries, locations of commanders and command posts.
At airfields, they report on the type, number and status of aircraft, as well as air defence systems, flight schedules and fuel and ammunition depots. Those involved in high-risk operations damage equipment and weapons, sabotage military vehicles and set fires to damage and expose their own positions.
According to The Telegraph, Many Russian soldiers became participants in the underground struggle against Putin's regime. One of them told The Telegraph that he set fire to his unit’s trench on the left bank of the Dnipro river in July.
“There was panic, thick smoke from the fire, and shelling from the Ukrainian side. While they were trying to extinguish the fire and save the supplies of food and weapons, the fire spread to a larger area. Many soldiers suffered burns.I knew the area well since I’ve been there for a long time. I think I did my job well, maybe even more so. The results exceeded our expectations,” he said.
Another Russian soldier recruited by the group works in an air base a few hundred miles from the Ukrainian border, tracking the movement of aircraft and weapons deliveries.
The airfield, which the agent describes as “one of the largest combat-ready airfields in Russia”, is home to some of Russia’s most advanced fighter jets, responsible for launching regular missile strikes on Ukraine’s cities.
“Here, I act as the eyes and ears for Atesh,” the soldier told The Telegraph.
It’s risky work that he knows carries a charge of treason and decades in prison. “But I understand what is evil and what is good. Unfortunately, my country has chosen the path of evil,” he said.
Last month, he passed on information about the relocation of Su-34 fighter bombers to other airfields deep within Russia, which he said were later targeted by Ukraine.
The spokesman said that Atesh’s biggest achievement was the destruction of the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the port city of Sevastopol. Here, a Russian soldier helped by providing the details of a planned meeting of the fleet’s leadership that Ukraine used to time its strike.