Sabotage or guerrilla warfare: who is behind the explosions in the Russian Federation?

Since the beginning of May, numerous explosions have occurred in infrastructure facilities in Russia. For example, on May 1, two events happened at the same time. The first is in the Leningrad region. A power line exploded there. It is not known who did the sabotage, law enforcement said they saw the car of the possible saboteurs they are currently looking for. On the same day, an explosive device exploded on the Novozybkov-Gomel railway line in the Bryansk region. As a result, a freight train derailed and burst into flames. A crater more than two meters deep formed nearby. Although both the police and the Federal Security Service announced the search, it was not possible to find the people involved in this sabotage.

On the night of May 3, it burned down not only on Red Square in Moscow, from which an unknown drone flew, but also near Taman – a tank with petroleum products caught fire there. The fire area in the oil depot exceeded 1.2 thousand square meters. 200 rescuers and five fire crews participated in the extinguishing. The cause of the fire is unknown, but a number of media reported a drone strike.

As on the eve of the occupied Crimea, where fuel tanks flared up in Sevastopol in the Kazakh Gulf. The fire covered an area of ​​more than 2000 square meters. m., more than ten tanks containing petroleum products were destroyed.

After the outbreak of war, accidents and explosions became frequent on the railway.

Undermining trains, fires in warehouses. Why does Russia blame Ukraine?

All these and two dozen more similar cases are associated by the Russian authorities with the actions of Ukrainian saboteurs – they say, “Several sabotage groups with well-established supply channels, main and reserve bases and local accomplices operate on the territory of Russia. “

Ukraine does not take responsibility and points to Russia – it is she who provocates.

Especially the Chief Advisor to the President Mykhailo Podolyak talks about provocations. He states: “The story of the Ukrainian DRGs in Russia is a classic provocation. Fully conscious. Russia wants to intimidate its own people in order to somehow justify the attack on another country and growing poverty in a war year. Meanwhile, the partisan movement is gaining strength in Russia and it’s getting more aggressive”.

At the same time, political scientist Oleg Lisny commented Focus he says such accusations are “news” for his audience.

“It is important that Russia blames Ukraine for every such incident, so that the Russian cannon fodder sitting in front of the TV sets begins to be afraid. And here the state offers a way out: he is afraid, he goes to war. flees. But such an association of frightened people who believe in the Nazis is being created. And Russia works with fears – the people are zombified, they see the Ukrainians as enemies that must be destroyed. “

Who took responsibility for the sabotage in Russia?

Meanwhile, several Russian organizations operate on Russian territory that are responsible for undermining and robbing tracks from time to time, setting fires in oil depots and military registration and recruitment offices.

Among them is the Russian Volunteer Corps. It was they who stated that at the beginning of March 2023 on the territory of the village of Lyubechane, Bryansk region, Klimovsky district, a car was fired on. Shortly after the incident, a video of two people in camouflage appeared on the telegram channel. One of them said his “Volunteer Troops” had crossed the Russian state border to show that “armed people can fight the regime”.

One of the men is 38-year-old Muscovite Denis Nikitin. According to Russian journalists, she studied in Europe, moved to Ukraine in 2017.

Another organization is left-wing radicals who call themselves the “Anarcho-Communists’ War Organization”. Its participants remain anonymous and oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For example, in June 2022, they took responsibility for removing the tracks on the railway leading to a military unit near the town of Kirzhach in the Vladimir region. The 51st Arsenal of the Main Rocket and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense is also located here. As the activists conceived, their operation should stop the movement of trains with equipment and weapons for Russian troops in Ukraine.

The “National Republican Army” (NRA) also took up the fight against the Putin regime. His name came from the lips of Ilya Ponomarev, a former deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation in August 2022. The ideologist of the “Russian world” stated that this group was behind the murder of Darya Dugin, the daughter of Alexander Dugin. According to him, they set fire to a number of military installations in the Russian Federation.

Militant Wire researcher Alec Bertina told Newsweek magazine, “The group is an underground guerrilla movement against the Ukrainian occupation and Putinism. They coordinate resistance efforts through social networks and also advocate the overthrow of the current Russian government.”

Important

Today, Ukrainian experts say that these and other partisans are united in opposition to Putin, but ideologically they are very different.

Political scientist Lisny points out that although such people may be Ukrainian allies, they are only situational. For most Russians they are fighting for their empire. “They can now be used as a resource, but I doubt that this resource will turn Russia into a democratic state,” says the expert. He believes that all these movements are not related to the democratic development of Russia, they are not talking about “breaking down the people’s prison”.

“They don’t say that the reins should be given to all 190 peoples living in the Russian Federation. I heard that someone wanted to create the United States of Siberia. This idea is attractive because it does not show the greatness of Moscow. People in both Mordovia and Tatarstan who consider themselves without Moscow. After 2014, many Russian liberals came directly to Ukraine and said that they would build a proper Russia and transfer it there, leaving Ukraine as a little brother,” adds the expert.

The main ideology for the Russians is to save the empire.

“As a result of the war, cells, individuals, groups began to appear on Russian soil, serving interests outside of Ukraine. Some sympathize with us or the idea of ​​Russia without Putin. But they are not our allies. On the contrary, they are fighting for their place under the Russian sun. Others are against us. supporters of more brutal behavior and in this way they are trying to force the Kremlin to act decisively,” continues Oleg Lisovy, “We are freezing. I do not know how a drone appeared in a protected place like Red Square: was it the work of local saboteurs or the so-called Ukraine “Were they people who wanted to see a harsh response to their actions – to use nuclear weapons, to attack Washington -? There was absolutely no trace of Ukraine there.”

Political scientist Taras Chornovil points out that there are various protest branches in Russia.

“First of all, corrupt liberals who either leave Russia and try to save Russia by forcing Putin or who consider it their primary duty to stay inside the country and make some kind of statement, will serve 7-8 years in prison and make them sit down. , believing that they are great heroes, – he explains. – This “liberalism” is an absolutely neutral means of protest, which Putin is not afraid of. But there is also a destructive part. For example, Ilya Ponomarev, trying to portray, is an imitation of a large, powerful, coordinated partisan movement in the Russian Federation. There is no such thing. But the truth itself, what they say about him arouses fear in the Russian order: the war will pass into Russian territory, there will be a partisan war, and then civil. one.

Important

But at the same time, Chornovil is still convinced that a sabotage movement is developing on the territory of Russia.

“People from a fairly radical circle can be attributed to him: football fans, nationalists, anarchists, anarcho-syndicalists, racists. All very different. They all hate Putin because he is destroying Russia. For example, some hate him on a purely racist position,” Chornovil said. because he “gave Russia to Chechens, Muslims, mosques were opened, churches were closed.”

Chornovil calls out some of his fellow travellers: “They really want Ukraine to win, they are doing some sabotage, directing them in directions that can help us. Let’s say on the railway. The explosions on the railway are definitely in our favor. But such protesters say, “We are definitely not allies, we have nothing to do with them. We have no connection, they are companions. Yes, they want Ukraine to win, and then they try to establish their own Russia. We also want Russia to disintegrate.”

under the influence of Ukrainian forces

At the same time, experts have no doubt that some so-called emergencies in the Russian Federation are either the negligence of the Russians or the work of the Ukrainian special services.

“Ukraine is conducting hostilities only on its own territory. Occupied Crimea is considered the same – we can blow it up, burn it, destroy it there. Everything that happens on Russian soil is an example of how Russia can not cope with the consequences. For example, “Because of sanctions, the Russians cannot change the details, therefore fire protection systems are damaged. We can also talk about simple negligence – we saw how planes fell, how bombs fell. Russian Federation,” says Lisny.

But such events, regardless of their “authors” – the case, Russian saboteurs or Ukrainian partisans – cause concern in the Kremlin. Chornovil recalls the meeting between Putin and the security forces.

“I know this happened recently. According to the leaked information, it is clear that the Kremlin wants to see the detainees, but they do not know who and where to look for and arrest. Otherwise, these feelings inside the country will only grow. as well as the number of explosions. Maybe even an energy crash, because every electricity you can not put an OMON unit under the mast of the line, but they tried the explosions – they work.For a day, part of the Leningrad Region fell power supply, “adds the expert.

By the way, in Russia, at the end of 2022, a law was adopted that establishes criminal liability for various forms of involvement in sabotage activities. “Promoting, recruiting, or otherwise engaging in sabotage activities, as well as financing sabotage” threatens up to 10 years in prison.