Russia Ramps Up Forces in Crimea, Prepares for Ukrainian Sabotage, Partisans Say

Agents of the Atesh guerrilla movement have been closely monitoring the situation in Russian-occupied Crimea and said that the Kremlin continues to build up troops there, even preparing to repulse Ukrainian sabotage-reconnaissance groups (DRG) in Sevastopol.

“Atesh continues to monitor the movement of Russian occupying troops in Crimea,” the partisans posted on their Telegram channel.

Guerrillas said that the Russian command has been preparing to repulse attacks by Ukrainian DRG, with plans to strengthen the coastal line of defense with infantry fighting vehicles.

“After the latest attack by Ukrainian UAVs, the Russian command has set the task of increasing the number of air defense systems over Sevastopol,” the report stated.

Atesh agents also continue to monitor Russian troops in the village of Gvardiyske, Crimea. A few days ago, they recorded the arrival of military equipment at the Ostryakovo railway station and released corresponding photos.

“All the equipment is located on the territory of the military unit near the railway station, surrounded by civilian buildings,” the partisans reported.

“We managed to establish that not all of the equipment located at this facility is in working order,” Atesh said.

Partisans did not rule out that the Russian command created a false object of concentration of equipment to accuse the Defense Forces of Ukraine of future attacks on civilian infrastructure.

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On Wednesday, March 27, Atesh agents in Sevastopol Bay recorded the landing of a small project 22800 Karakurt-class corvette missile ship. The partisan movement reports that few ships of this type are left in the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

“To be precise, only the Zyklon ship remains completely afloat; the Askold ship was damaged due to the shelling of the ‘Zatoka’ plant in November 2023,” the message said.

Other ships of this project, meant to serve in the Russian Black Sea Fleet, are under construction.

Sources within the partisan movement also told Kyiv Post that Russian special services have been conducting large-scale measures to discredit pro-Ukrainian movements, including Atesh.

“Terrorist attacks with subsequent accusations against ATESH are quite possible,” the source said.

The partisans also published a statement, noting that Russia is planning new terrorist attacks to suppress Ukrainian resistance.

“The Kremlin wants to portray the nonviolent underground as violent, and the partisans as terrorists. They accuse the resistance of collaborating with minors. This is an absolute lie,” the statement read.

The partisans added that Russia would seek to blame Ukraine for new acts of terrorism in the coming weeks and months, especially by the resistance movement.

However, Atesh once again called on all Crimeans to record the movement of Russian troops on the peninsula and provide this information to the coordinators of the movement.

“All information is processed and transferred to the Defense Forces of Ukraine,” the message read.