Dozens of Russians thrust into a war they didn’t want to fight have become valuable Ukrainian assets. 4,000 Russian soldiers have taken an online course on how to “survive the war” by wrecking their own equipment. Russians provide information on troop movements, weapons and ammunition deliveries, locations of commanders and command posts, the type, number and status of aircraft, as well as air defence systems, flight schedules and fuel and ammunition depots. “From the beginning, Russian soldiers have been helping to obtain information on the front line and in Crimea and Russia. We are currently seeing a significant increase in the number of Russian soldiers joining our ranks."
A Russian soldier recruited as a double agent by Ukraine has described burning his own army’s trenches.
In a rare interview with one of the Russians now working with the Ukrainian resistance, the conscript soldier told The Telegraph that he set fire to his unit’s trench on the left bank of the Dnipro River in July.
The blaze spread to the neighbouring unit’s dugout and he watched as his fellow soldiers burned themselves in futile attempts to retrieve ammunition and weapons.
“There was panic, thick smoke from the fire, and shelling from the Ukrainian side,” the conscript, who The Telegraph is not naming, said.
“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.”
The Russian had recently been recruited by Atesh (meaning fire in Crimean Tatar), an underground Ukrainian resistance movement fighting to derail Vladimir Putin’s war.
“I knew the area well since I’ve been there for a long time,” he said. “I think I did my job well, maybe even more so. The results exceeded our expectations.”
Atesh reported on its Telegram channel that the fire severely damaged both units’ trenches and dugouts, destroyed several warehouses and burnt most of its supplies. Up to 20 soldiers allegedly suffered severe burns.
Now in a new position on Ukraine’s front line, the young, emboldened soldier told The Telegraph he would do all he could to continue his work against Putin’s regime.
Atesh was formed by ethnic Ukrainian, Russian and Crimean Tatars in occupied Crimea in the summer of 2022.
It now 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, a spokesman from Atesh told The Telegraph. “We are constantly growing,” he added.
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.
Dozens of Russians thrust into a war they didn’t want to fight have become valuable assets.
“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,” the spokesman said.
“They are a major tool in supporting our struggle, performing critical sabotage and intelligence tasks.”
On the battlefield, the spokesman said, Russians 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.
Atesh claimed last year that 4,000 Russian soldiers had already taken an online course on how to “survive the war” by wrecking their own equipment.
The increase in recruits among Russian troops comes as Ukrainian-run operations inside the occupied territories are becoming increasingly hard to carry out.
Saboteur suspects face show trials
Russia is getting better at counter-sabotage measures, deploying more police and security forces to ruthlessly track and hunt down Atesh agents and then carry out heavily publicised show trials of alleged saboteurs, the spokesman said.
Atesh would not comment on how many of its agents had been caught.
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.
Inside the base, he is always being watched. “Military counterintelligence is constantly active here, and they are aware of potential information leaks from this airfield. In my opinion, I am not the only one helping the Ukrainian side here,” 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.
He hopes that his intelligence will cause “irreparable damage to Putin’s forces”. “Each piece of information I share accelerates the end of this unjust war,” he said.
Atesh’s heartland remains occupied Crimea, where Ukraine in the last 12 months intensified its campaign to make the embattled peninsula untenable for Russian forces.
The spokesman said that Atesh’s biggest coup utilising a Russian soldier was the destruction of the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the port city of Sevastopol.
In September last year, a Storm Shadow strike killed 32 Russian officers as well as the fleet’s admiral, according to Ukraine, in one of Kyiv’s boldest attacks yet on Russian targets in Crimea.
Atesh claims one of its agents on the inside provided the details of a planned meeting of the fleet’s leadership that Ukraine used to time its strike.
The attack marked a humiliating blow to Putin, but Atesh’s work remains ongoing. One of its founding goals is to free Crimea of every last occupier.
The Telegraph spoke to a third agent, an ethnic Russian living in occupied Crimea, who watches the comings and goings at the port of Kavkaz, which sits on a strategic spit of land in the Kerch Strait that divides the peninsula from Russia.
It is one of Russia’s largest outlets on the Black Sea, and handles ships for exports and for fuel supplies to Crimea.
After joining Atesh in the spring of 2023, he said “they told me exactly what they needed. I started transmitting information on the time, location, number of vehicles, amount of fuel, as well as the numbers of the trucks transporting fuel and lubricants, and other crucial information”.
‘I fear torture, but I am committed’
He often wonders how badly he could be tortured if caught, what basement he would be thrown in or what would happen to his family. “But my commitment to this cause is stronger,” he said.
On May 31 this year, he watched the fruits of his labour – a huge explosion as Ukrainian missiles hit the ferry crossing and an oil depot at the port.
Another more powerful strike followed on Aug 22, sinking a ferry that was carrying fuel and weapons to Crimea. That attack helped to cause a fuel shortage on the peninsula.
The agent knows that others, unknown to him, were also helping to transmit information, but he felt immense pride in his work.
“I can see with my own eyes the effectiveness of my co-operation with the Atesh movement. I will continue to provide all possible assistance I can to achieve victory over Russia’s military.”
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