Russians Scramble to Move Equipment After Series of Attacks, Ukrainian Partisans Say

The Russians are chaotically moving equipment after successful Ukrainian strikes, according to Atesh, the Ukrainian partisan movement that has been surreptitiously attacking Russian troops and materiel in occupied Crimea.

Ukraine struck an airfield in occupied Berdyansk on Oct. 17 with ATACMS missiles, recently provided by the United States. Previously, on Sept. 22, Kyiv struck the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol, an attack in which Ukraine claims to have killed 34 Russian officers.

Atesh reports that the Russian army is hiding its military equipment near Crimean railway stations for fear of continuing Ukrainian strikes.

This method allows Russian troops to avoid large concentrations of equipment and to quickly load the train cars, almost exclusively at night, for transportation to the front.

Concentrations of equipment were noticed near the Ostryakove, Dzhankoi and Simferopol railway stations, as well as others.

“No tricks will help them, because Atesh has eyes all over the peninsula,” the partisans said. “We record every movement and accumulation of equipment. The enemy will inevitably be destroyed.”

In addition, Russia has tightened security at railroad depots on the Crimean Peninsula due to recurring acts of sabotage.

“The Simferopol station has also introduced an enhanced regime of service, with special attention to the control of photo and video recordings,” local partisans said.

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How Many ATACMS Does Ukraine Have?

US officials only hinted at a “significant” number of these long-range missiles transferred, but one can speculate how many based on existing information.

Ukrainian underground movements have escalated their campaign of sabotaging railway facilities.

On Oct. 13, Ukrainian partisans blew up a Russian train in Melitopol, cutting off Russian troops from ammunition and fuel supplies destined for the Zaporizhzhia front.

Although Russian authorities have reacted to increased security, the Atesh guerrillas are confident that such actions will not help the occupation forces stay safe in temporarily occupied Crimea.

“The security measures demonstrate the occupiers’ serious concern about the safety of rail transportation and emphasize the importance of ensuring the stability and reliability of the transportation infrastructure in this region,” the partisans said.

The Russian army also has problems with military personnel, Atesh reports, as the local authorities in the Donbas have taken desperate steps and begun to mobilize miners in the Luhansk region. Miners at local enterprises have been issued summonses in Rovenky, Krasny Luch (name changed to Khrustalny) and Krasnodon (Sorokyne).

“The propaganda narrative about protecting Donbas residents and miners is no longer even mentioned by the racsists [sic]. They are forcing local residents to fight against fellow Ukrainians. But this allows us to attract more and more agents to our ranks,” the guerrillas say.

It is a common practice of the partisan movement to involve Russian military personnel in the Ukrainian resistance. In fact, Russian serviceman helped collect all the information necessary to direct the Ukrainian attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.

In exclusive comments to Kyiv Post, a spokesperson for Atesh, outlined some of the details of the operation.

“We managed to attract one of the military members of the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” the spokesperson said.

“He got up-to-date information about the placement and probable combat missions of the Rostov-on-Don submarine.”