Operation Baltic Fishing: How Ukraine sabotaged a Russian ship using a deserting sailor

The mission was called Operation Fishing and its executor, a young Russian sailor on his way to desertion, was given the code name Goga. Place of execution: the Baltic Sea, in front of the port of Baltiisk, in Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania. It took place on April 8 and its objective was mainly to sabotage the communication systems of the Russian corvette. Serpukhovcapable of carrying Kalibr-type cruise missiles, some of the most difficult to intercept by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defences. Until now, little was known about this operation, beyond the information spread on social networks by some profiles that detected the damage to the warship, in addition to a very short video released by the Ukrainian intelligence services (GUR). This Wednesday, Kiev has claimed responsibility for the authorship of this sabotage action, carried out by the GUR, the Legion of Freedom for Russia and the I Want to Live project, which facilitates the desertion of Russian uniformed personnel. The recruit Goga showed his face.

Ukraine has been working since the start of the offensive in February 2024 to hit the Russian fleet, either with the use of missiles or by launching maritime drones – the latest operation with these unmanned aircraft took place this Wednesday in the port of Novorossiysk, in the Black Sea. And they have had considerable success. So much so that the deputy commander of NATO’s Joint Force Command in Norfolk (Virginia), Tim Henry, recently admitted that they were learning from the Ukrainian experience in these waters. The attack on the Serpukhov would be the first to succeed in the Baltic.

In the third year of the full-scale Russian invasion, it is not usual for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s intelligence services to openly acknowledge and explain sabotage actions against the enemy, nor for its saboteur to appear in public to tell what happened. The message that the GUR wants to convey is this: it is possible to attack Russian ships, even in the Baltic – it was planned that the sabotaged corvette could travel to the Black Sea – and there are more operations on the way. What sailor Goga explains could be part of a standard spy movie. “I was the only person in the crew [del Serpujov] “I was against a full-scale invasion,” the deserter said at a rather secretive appearance in the centre of the Ukrainian capital. None of his comrades paid much attention to him.

Goga, a tall man, a man of few words, somewhat shy and disoriented, continued trying to explain to the commanders of his corvette that he could not collaborate with operations targeting Ukraine. He prepared a report for his superiors in which he explained this; they carried out an expert appraisal and even opened an investigation that ended up in the Russian Prosecutor’s Office. “They gave me a final warning and released me,” he said, “without any sanction, and I remained on the ship.” It was at that moment, desperate, according to his account, that he took action. “It turned out that sabotage was my thing,” he said on Wednesday with a half smile.

The sailor came into contact with the Legion of Freedom for Russia. This organisation of Russian opponents of the Kremlin is one of three, along with the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Siberian Battalion – according to the GUR there are more groups, but they cannot be identified – that have taken up arms to fight Vladimir Putin. They have carried out sabotage and attacks across the border, such as the raids in the Russian region of Belgorod in the spring of 2023. According to the I Want to Live project, linked to the GUR and which helps in the process of desertion of Russian soldiers, up to 36,000 requests for defection have been received.

The video released by the Ukrainian intelligence service shows two things: the plans for the corvette and the start of the fire. Nothing more. In response to questions from EL PAÍS, the spokesman for the GUR, Andrii Yusov, said that Operation Pesca managed to hit, above all, the communication and automation systems, although not the engines, and that the repair work on the ship, which before being in the Baltic was part of the Black Sea Fleet, will take about “six months.” A tactical strike by the Ukrainian forces, very focused on reaching the possible missile launch points, but also symbolic in demonstrating the vulnerability of the enemy to the actions of possible deserters. According to the information gathered by Ukrainian intelligence, “heads have rolled” in the Russian army because of this attack.

Details of the sabotage itself are scarce for security reasons, as is information on the steps taken to get the sailor out of Kaliningrad and into Ukrainian territory. kyiv does not want the publication of these routes, which have been used on many occasions, to block one of the exits for possible defectors.

Goga acknowledged in his speech that, unlike his comrades in the crew of the Serpukhovhe stopped watching television to avoid Russian propaganda. “But my family can’t stop watching it,” he admitted. He says this because, just as he tried to convince his superiors, he also tried to convince his relatives. He communicated with them and told them the truth; he “argued” what he was doing. His relatives, on the other hand, were “indifferent.” The new recruit will continue to fight – in his words, “for the final victory of Ukraine” – but from now on he will do so in the ranks of the Freedom Legion for Russia.

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