Ukraine | Ukraine hinted that local “partisans” were behind the successful attack in Crimea – What is known about them?

Ukrainian entrusted to do a devastating blow to the Saki air base in Crimea has raised the question of the possible involvement of Ukrainian guerrillas and partisans in the attack.

Head of the Security Council of Ukraine It would be Danilov hinted a partisan newspaper In an interview with The Washington Post. By partisans, he refers to infiltrators trained by Ukrainian special forces and locals doing covert operations behind the front lines.

“If you ask me if there are partisans, I will answer that there is. They are everywhere. We have prepared in advance, and we have them,” said Danilov.

We knowthat the Ukrainians have been planning and preparing to use partisans in military operations since 2014.

Ukrainian partisan forces began to be trained when Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula, but only became an official part of Ukraine’s armed forces last summer, said the head of the Center for Security and Cooperation in Ukraine, which specializes in military analysis. Serhii Kuzan In an article from The Guardian in June.

Kuzan says that hundreds of volunteer Ukrainians signed up for partisan training. He added that partisan forces are always assembled from the residents of a certain area.

“Partisan forces were trained as a secret resistance movement in case their territory was occupied.”

According to Kuzan, the partisan forces, trained and led by Ukrainian special forces, perform a variety of tasks: building informant networks, launching information campaigns against the occupiers, passing information to the Ukrainian authorities and the military, and killing high-level political targets and occupier commanders.

“The idea is that the occupier always feels the presence of partisans and never feels safe,” Kuzan said.

Alexander Institute Visiting researcher Ilmari Käihkö believes that the actions of Ukrainian partisans can have a significant impact on the course of the war.

“For example, the liberation of occupied territories is easier if there is a population in the area that supports these intentions. In addition, it makes political control of the region difficult for Russia,” says Käihkö.

Käihkö sees that Ukraine has failed to utilize the full potential of partisan groups. He adds that according to media reports, the activity “seems to be increasing”.

“I and many researchers expected that Ukraine would have harnessed more of its own people to guerrilla warfare.”

How is it likely that partisan groups were also involved in the air base attack in Crimea?

“The problem is that we don’t know what actually happened there,” says Käihkö.

Käihkö believes that a possible Ukrainian airstrike is unlikely because of Russia’s air defense. He is also skeptical about a missile strike, because according to Käihkö, Ukraine does not have missiles with a long enough range – for example, the United States has not wanted to give them to Ukraine due to the risk of an escalation of the war.

“Ukrainians themselves have said that partisans participated in the attack. There has been speculation that they planted explosives or that they operated a drone near the air base – that could be a possible scenario.”

Read more: According to satellite images, Ukraine hit its targets perfectly on the Russian air base in Crimea, but how?

Cuckold emphasizes that both sides of the war have reasons to use partisan activities as part of their war propaganda.

Käihkö says that it is advantageous for Ukraine to talk about the partisans, because it is a threat to the Russian occupation and its troops. He adds that it also curbs Ukrainians’ desire to cooperate with the occupier, as the partisans have also targeted the occupiers’ helpers.

“It also binds Russian troops to the areas where the partisans carry out attacks. In the Crimean attack, Ukraine did not even reveal what they have done. It keeps Russia on its toes and forces it to guard these areas.”

Russia can use partisan attacks as a reason to tighten its grip on the inhabitants of the territories it occupies. Käihkö believes that the more punches are made, the more the grip also tightens.

“The filtering camps are a good example of this. Those who are not trusted and who are suspected of striving for resistance are screened there.”

According to Käihko, Russia’s countermeasures can rather benefit the resistance in the long run.

“It can be assumed that Russia will intervene, for example by arresting more people, torturing and possibly even murdering. It can lead to an increase in Ukrainian resistance, which in turn can serve Ukraine’s interests in the long run.”

For sure However, Käihkö thinks that Russia is afraid of partisan activities by Ukrainians.

“That is the purpose of Ukraine”, Käihkö states.

“There, they are aware that the Ukrainians’ support for the occupation is not very high.”