An officer from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, speaking anonymously to the Italian publication Il Foglio, shared insights into the specifics of underground operations in the occupied territories.
According to the intelligence officer, every mission carried out by the resistance movement poses an enormous risk to those involved, yet people continue to assist Ukraine, primarily for ideological and patriotic reasons.
Over the 2.5 years of full-scale war, there have been dozens of mysterious explosions involving the vehicles of Russian forces and collaborators—some were killed, while others were seriously injured. This is the work of Ukrainian partisans.
Underground agents also pass along crucial information about the movement of the aggressor state's forces and resources, enabling Ukraine to respond in time—either by strengthening defense at critical points on the front or by striking concentrations of Russian troops and equipment.
At times, unknown Ukrainian patriots draw symbolic graffiti on the streets of occupied cities, exerting psychological pressure on the Russian forces.
“This is a signal to the occupiers that this is not their land. Our people are nearby; they haven’t abandoned their intentions to reclaim their land,” stated the Ukrainian intelligence officer.
Contrary to popular belief, Ukrainian underground agents do not gather to plan active measures.
The curator of the resistance movement explained that agents may live in the same building without knowing that both are working with Ukrainian intelligence.
This is a necessary condition to ensure the safety of the agents, as Russian special services are continuously hunting them.
“They operate on the principle of: throw a stone at everyone, and maybe you’ll hit a spy,” the Ukrainian officer explained, adding that sometimes they have to scale back the activities of the underground agents to avoid putting them in danger.
Even Russian citizens cooperate with the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine in this fight against Putin's criminal regime. One type of their activity is silent sabotage, for example, in enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.
“If a military equipment part is manufactured incorrectly, or a drawing is made incorrectly—that also introduces a certain level of disruption,” the intelligence officer noted.
