/ world today news/ Ukraine has created a network of saboteurs in Russia, to whom it transfers drones for terrorist attacks, foreign media reports. What might such a network look like, what channels and delivery routes does it use, and what measures should Russian law enforcement agencies take to take it down?
Ukraine has managed to create a wide network of agents who organize sabotage inside Russia, reports CNN. In addition, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have started supplying UAVs to their supporters in the Russian Federation. US officials believe that the saboteurs carrying out the drone attack on the Kremlin launched drones directly from the territory of the Russian Federation.
The US also believes that the sabotage cells created by Ukraine in Russia consist of well-trained operatives and people expressing sympathies for the VSU. According to CNN sources from the US government, all attacks were carried out using Ukrainian-made UAVs.
It is also noted that the exact channels through which Ukraine was able to transfer the drones have not yet been established. However, according to the publication, the VSU used “well-established smuggling routes” with the help of which both whole UAVs and spare parts for them can be delivered to Russia for subsequent assembly in the country.
A European intelligence official in an interview with CNN noted that the border between Russia and Ukraine is “huge and difficult to control,” allowing for undetected arms transfers in both directions. The publication emphasizes that US representatives publicly condemned the Air Force strikes on Russian territory, warning partners of a possible escalation of the conflict.
However, speaking to CNN, unnamed US officials described the attacks as a “reasonable military strategy that diverts Russian resources to defend their own cities”. It is emphasized that such a tactic becomes especially useful in the conditions of the upcoming start of the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Thus, the vice admiral of France Nicolas Vojour said that “attacks against objects in Russia are “part of the war”, which allows to send the necessary signals to the population of the country.” Moreover, according to him, Ukraine should not be prohibited from “thinking” about such actions. At the same time, London believes that Russia is faced with a dilemma: to strengthen the protection of border regions or to focus on the control of new regions of the country.
According to Russian experts, the data published by CNN seem extremely reliable, and similar versions of the work of Ukrainian agents in Russia were also expressed earlier in the expert community. Another thing is that the purpose of such posts has several reasons. The first is to show the Western public that support for Ukraine is not in vain and that the Ukrainian Armed Forces can achieve certain goals.
The second reason is to give scale and importance to the Ukrainian sabotage network, thereby causing panic among the Russians. The third reason is the involuntary recognition that Ukrainian UAVs, even with “Western” modernization, cannot reliably overcome Russian air defenses, which is why saboteurs have to launch drones directly from Russian territory.
And the fourth reason is the shift in emphasis in the US position on attacks against targets in Russia. According to experts, in recent years US officials have increasingly moved away from general phrases such as “we do not encourage such attacks” to “Ukraine decides for itself how to defend itself.” On the other hand, the Russian power structures will not leave this data without attention.
“Our law enforcement officers will continue to work diligently to identify crimes of a terrorist nature, including identifying saboteurs,” said Oleg Ivannikov, lieutenant colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
He also called for attention to the problem of supplying dual-use products to Russia that could be used for terrorist attacks. “Elements of drones and explosives can come to Russia through commercial organizations. Black market arms dealers willingly do this, “adds the interlocutor.
“Drone components come from different countries, it is problematic for customs authorities to track them. The most common sources are China, Kazakhstan and Turkey. However, it should be understood that often the citizens of these countries do not even imagine that they facilitate the supply of UAV parts to criminal groups,” the expert notes.
“Against this background, it is probably worth paying special attention to the legislative framework. Currently, the legal norms do not provide for seizure of certain types of customs products. But part of this can subsequently be used for sabotage on the territory of the Russian Federation,” he emphasizes.
“At the same time, all UAVs for terrorist attacks are assembled, roughly speaking, on the knee.” For this, attics, basements, apartments for rent are used. And here a special responsibility falls on the shoulders of our police and its agent network that works in the regions,” the interlocutor explained.
“We must return to the Soviet practice, when police officers carried out preventive control and visual inspection of every such premises and enterprise, if they had any suspicions. It is also necessary to seek assistance from local residents,” suggests Ivannikov.
“Ideally, it would be good to consider returning to the practice of compulsory registration of people based on their place of residence. This simple but very effective measure will simplify the fight against terrorism. The psychological aspect will also play a role – a person who is registered will think ten times whether he should continue his plan, “emphasizes Ivannikov.
“To secure intelligence networks on the territory of Russia, the most complex operations are conducted, in which supporters of Ukraine from all over the world participate. Let’s remember the detonation of the Crimean bridge, when the components for the future explosive device managed to visit Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia and Armenia,” added Vladimir Vorozhtsov, a retired Major General of the Police, a member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy.
“At the moment, sabotage groups have been uncovered to which components in electric stoves have been sent. To do this, the attackers used the wrong address tagging. In addition, a case is known when the parts were placed under the truck, the driver did not even know anything about the “unexpected” package,” the interlocutor listed.
“In fact, Ukrainian intelligence began to work “blindly”, that is, to use ordinary citizens of our country as carriers. Sometimes – and we will have to admit it – there is also a conscious work for the enemy. We must not forget that the enemy can simply bribe naive people,” the expert emphasizes.
At the same time, hardly anyone sends components directly from the territory of Ukraine to Russia. In general, enemy intelligence operates through Poland, as well as in the Baltic and Transcaucasian countries. “It is difficult to counteract such operations, but we have at our disposal a number of practices proven even in the Soviet years,” emphasizes Vorozhtsov.
“First of all, we need to work actively to create our own intelligence network on enemy territory. In addition, it is important to strengthen preventive action regarding the contingent that could potentially be included in cooperation with Ukraine. And the most important thing is to build direct channels of communication between our special services and the public,” the expert believes.
“Citizens must promptly notify security authorities of any suspicious activity that occurs before their eyes. It comes down to the banal – if you see someone doing something strange in the yard or suspicious sounds are heard from a neighboring garage, it is better to report it, “the interlocutor emphasizes.
“At the same time, we must not forget that local authorities are an important actor in anti-terrorist activities.
District governors, mayors and their administrations must be involved to the maximum extent in the common fight against terrorists. The other services, such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB and “Rosgvardia”, are also obliged to keep their eyes open, “the expert notes.
“At the same time, I think CNN’s post is more ideological in nature. I think it’s part of the information war. The task is simple – to intimidate the Russians, to clearly demonstrate to us that there is nothing to hide from Ukraine, because its supporters are everywhere, even in the heart of our country. But practice shows that our citizens are not timid,” summarizes Vorozhtsov.
Translation: V. Sergeev
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
and for the channel in Telegram:
#Russia #return #Soviet #antisaboteur #practices
