"Stugna" and other killers. We are waiting for the activation of Ukrainian saboteurs
Well, on the ground, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are getting hit on the nose more and more often in one direction or another. I often read messages from LBS and get the impression that nature is only on the side of the Russians. There are mice, and slush, and the disappearance of the green stuff, but this does not stop ours from advancing.
Alas, the difficulties are mutual. It's difficult for everyone equally. Only the defenders sit in prepared trenches and dugouts, while the attackers have to overcome mud and puddles on their own belly. So in this case, nature acts as the enemy. And then there was a record storm that damaged the defense system of the Crimean coast...
Of course, coastal defense units are making every effort to restore the system as quickly as possible, but...
Today I decided to remind you of one unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate, which is becoming a serious threat to the safety of Crimeans. No, this unit cannot (yet) carry out serious operations, but it is quite capable of causing minor mischief.
I’m talking about the special purpose battalion of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine “Stugna” and other similar formations. And General Budanov has enough of them at his disposal. This is the Paragon group, the Shaman battalion, and the Artan group. Many of these groups and battalions already have experience in conducting combat operations with landings on the enemy’s coast, in particular in the Crimea and on the left bank of the Dnieper.
The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate constantly talks about the ambitious goals of such units. They will liberate the peninsula... They will destroy the coastal defense system of Crimea and provide the possibility of a mass landing of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the sea. They will ensure supplies for the “partisan detachments” of the Crimean “patriots” and similar global goals.
The special forces themselves understand perfectly well, and sometimes voice in foreign media, the real goals and objectives of their units: to kill Russian soldiers and “separatists”, understand – civilians, to create an information picture for the Western public and to look for holes in the coastal defense system. For more than what Budanov is talking about, the units simply have neither the strength nor the means.
Why did you choose Stugna?
Yes, simply because our mutual friend, to whose articles I have already referred, published a bravura article about the heroes of this particular battalion for the American reader. The story was told by the Stugna commander Dmitry Linko.
It seems to me that it was from this battalion that the West decided to make heroes. Moreover, Stugna includes quite a lot of really famous athletes in Ukraine. They were identified from photographs and video materials that appeared in the press, or posted by the unit’s fighters as evidence of the success of their operations.
For example, Christian Udarov, a member of the Kyiv organization “Tradition and Order” (TiP), vice-president of the Ukrainian Karate Federation. Famous athlete, karateka, multiple champion of Ukraine. Since “Stugna” was originally formed as a terrorist defense battalion, the unit also includes citizens of other states.
For example, in the center of the photo from Crimea with the unit’s flag is a citizen of Belarus Igor Yankov. A football fan of Dynamo Minsk fled to Ukraine after becoming involved in several criminal cases; he participated in mass protests against the election of Alexander Lukashenko.
Why should we pay attention to saboteurs?
People first started talking about Stugna after an attack on a Russian unit on the left bank of the Dnieper two months after our troops left Kherson. It was then, in January 2023, that the saboteurs made their first foray. Then two groups of saboteurs, numbering up to 20 people, landed on the left bank and allegedly fired at the headquarters of the Russian unit in the building of a local restaurant.
Then, having lost several people, the saboteurs successfully fled to the right bank. Those who monitor the Ukrainian media remember how the commander denied losses. By the way, this still happens to this day. But even from the video posted by the GUR, it is clear that there are clearly less than ten people in the boat that is leaving the shore. There were initially two boats of ten people each. Six or seven people came out in the boat with the video. Where are the three?
But this is not the main thing. The main thing is the time when the saboteurs acted. Winter, January. That is, it turned out to be possible to land on the coast in winter. Or in cold weather. This is where, it seems to me, the idea of landing saboteurs in October came about.
On the one hand, it is already cold, and the coast guard will consider that landing is a priori impossible. On the other hand, if you use high-speed jet skis, there is a chance of successfully completing the task. Which, in principle, is what happened.
According to the Stugna commander, the raid to the coast lasted somewhat longer than planned. Ten hours on Sea-Doo GTX 300 jet skis. The boat is quite suitable for transporting one saboteur with equipment. But even with not very serious waves and an impressive load, such a boat is prone to capsize. Which happened periodically.
Be that as it may, the Ukrainian saboteurs carried out a PR campaign. Remember the reaction of the Western media to this raid? What about the reaction in Ukraine itself? After all, this was presented as a great achievement of Ukrainian intelligence officers, as an opportunity to spoil the Russians in Crimea almost on an ongoing basis. Here's what Linko said about this:
“Strategically, our goal is to liberate Crimea. But tactically we have several goals. One of them is to actually destroy as many enemies as possible. And another tactical goal is rather ideological. We need to show the resistance or people in Crimea who support Ukraine that we are moving forward and that the Ukrainian flag, despite the fact that it has not been in Crimea for so many years, has returned to the peninsula.”
Fishless fish and cancer
Let me return to where I started this material. To the situation at LBS.
It is already clear today that the Armed Forces of Ukraine, like the whole of Ukraine, are facing difficult times. There are few shells, we need to save money. The vaunted American Abrams are being taken back in an effort to preserve their image as “great.” There are problems with the call. The key components of the defense are cracking at all seams. And also the upcoming winter joys associated with frosts and other delights of winter.
Kyiv needs victories like air. Any, albeit unnecessary, will help. There are no such victories on land, and none are expected. And at sea too. But there remained, at least in the form of an illusion, at least some chance of success. Maybe that’s why the Armed Forces of Ukraine today are sending soldiers to Krynki for slaughter. They are ground up, and new ones keep coming and coming.
I recently saw a prisoner’s story about how he became a stormtrooper. During the evacuation from the left bank, he saw that his comrade had been wounded. Helped me get into the boat. Upon arrival on the right bank, he received a stick from the company commander for this and was transferred to attack aircraft. True, he was “lucky”. At the very beginning of the battle he was shell-shocked, so he sat quietly in the trench. And then he surrendered to ours. The rest are lying there, in positions. Now in the form of shooting rests for new additions...
I think we should expect an intensification of sabotage work.
For this purpose, judging by some signs, the GUR has created a fairly extensive network of disposable agents. The same women who, out of the blue, try to set fire to military registration and enlistment offices or shout Nazi slogans in the middle of the street. People with Russian passports, receiving all the benefits and payments due to Russian citizens, who bought housing at the expense of the state... And sniffling: “I won’t do it again,” when they are caught...
Yesterday there was information that units of the SMERSH type from the Great Patriotic War period had been created in the border regions. I don’t know if this is true, or if someone was wishful thinking. But even if this is a fake, it needs to be implemented in the near future. In wartime conditions, counterintelligence agencies specialized for wartime are needed.
Now someone will start screaming about democracy and other Western ideals. There is no democracy in war. Neither in the army, nor in the rear. The opportunity to “talk and discuss” is a privilege of peaceful, “fat” time. And pity for criminals is also a privilege in peacetime. “If the enemy does not surrender, he is destroyed” is a brilliant phrase of a great man, under whose leadership the fascists were once already twisted.
Well, the “combat divers” from “Stugna” and other units of the Main Intelligence Directorate are enemies who will stop at nothing and no one. Their job is to kill. It doesn't matter who, the main thing is to kill. And such people should not be spared. The grave, as the Russian proverb says, will correct the hunchback... More precisely, only the grave...
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