Russian partisan movement | |||||||
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Part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the anti-war protests in Russia (2022–present) | |||||||
Anti-war graffiti in Saint Petersburg | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Dmitry Petrov † [25] Maximilian Andronnikov Denis Kapustin Andrey Pronsky Vyacheslav Maltsev | Vladimir Putin Mikhail Mishustin Sergei Shoigu Valery Gerasimov | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Russian Opposition: | Deaths: 40+ [29] [30] [31] | ||||||
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Pro-democratic and pro-Ukrainian partisan movements have emerged in Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War. These resistance movements act against the authoritarian government of Vladimir Putin in Russia, as well as against civilian supporters of these authorities and the armed forces, with the aim of stopping the war. [32]
By 2022-03-07, cases of arsons of police departments were recorded in Smolensk and Krasnoyarsk. [33]
As of 5 July 2022 [update] , at least 23 attacks on military enlistment offices were recorded, 20 of which were arson. [34] The arson attacks were not a single coordinated campaign: behind them were a variety of people: from far-left to far-right groups. Sometimes they were lone actors who did not associate themselves with any movements. [35] [36] Civilian vehicles bearing the letter Z insignia (supporting the war efforts) were also set ablaze. [32]
On 2022-08-27, multiple Russian-language outlets reported that a woman named Evgenia Belova doused a parked BMW X6 with accelerant and set it ablaze in Moscow. The vehicle belonged to Yevgeny Sekretarev (Russian : Евгения Секретарева) who reportedly works for the Eighth Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation; the Directorate oversees the State Secret Protection Service handling wartime censorship. A woman detained for the arson also reportedly proclaimed her opposition to the war. [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] The woman is described as 65 years old, a patient of a local "psychoneurological clinic," and lives in the same building as Sekretarev. [42] Coverage of the incident by Radio Svoboda, mentioned a relative of the woman making the unverified claim that she was "kidnapped prior to the arson by Ukrainian special forces," held for a "ransom of 500,000 Russian rubles", and "hypnotized." The woman's relatives further insisted she "was never against the Russian authorities", and "would never have committed arson against the Russian government". [43]
In Russia, the movements Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists (BOAK) and Stop the Wagons announced their sabotage activities on the railway infrastructure. According to The Insider, 63 freight trains derailed in Russia between March and June 2022, about one and a half times as much as during the same period the previous year. At the same time, the geography of wagon wrecks shifted to the west, and some trains got into accidents near military units. [35] According to Russian Railways and inspection bodies, half of the accidents are related to the poor condition of the railway tracks. [44]
Representatives of BOAK took responsibility not only for dismantling rails and railway sabotage in Sergiyev Posad near Moscow and near Kirzhach, Vladimir Oblast, but also for setting fire to cell towers (for example, in the village of Belomestnoye in the Belgorod Oblast) and even for setting fire to cars of people supporting actions of the Russian leadership. According to the anarchists themselves, their activities were largely inspired by the actions of the Belarusian partisans, who effectively resisted the Russian invasion through the territory of Belarus at the very beginning of the war. [35]
The "Stop the Wagons" movement in Russia claimed responsibility for the derailment of wagons in the Amur Oblast, due to which traffic on the Trans-Siberian Railway was stopped on 29 June, [45] [46] [47] [48] for the derailment of a train in Tver on 5 July, [49] several wagons with coal in Krasnoyarsk on 13 July, [50] as well as freight trains in the Krasnoyarsk Krai at the Lesosibirsk station on 19 July, [51] in Makhachkala overnight between 23 and 24 July (the investigating authorities of Dagestan also considered sabotage as a probable cause of this incident) [52] [53] and on the Oktyabrskaya railway near Babaevo station on 12 August. [54] According to the map published by the movement, its activists operate on more than 30% of the territory of Russia. [55] [56]
On 20 August 2022, ultranationalist journalist, political scientist and activist Darya Dugina was killed by a car bombing in Bolshiye Vyazyomy, Odintsovsky District, Moscow Oblast. [57] it is widely presumed the bomb was also meant to kill her father, Aleksandr Dugin. Both are identified with National Bolshevism, gave statements justifying war against Ukraine, and denied war crimes such as Bucha massacre. [58] [59] The United States sanctioned both figures for their support of the regime and the war; Dugina was also sanctioned for her work with Yevgeny Prigozhin in the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. [60]
Former State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev, who is based in Kyiv, said that a partisan organization called the "National Republican Army" operating inside Russia and engaged in "overthrowing the Putin regime" was behind the assassination of Dugina; Ponomarev also called the event a "momentous event" and said that the partisans inside Russia were "ready for further similar attacks". [61] Ponomarev told several outlets that he had been "in touch" with representatives of the organization since April 2022, while also claiming that the group had been involved in "unspecified partisan activities". [62] However, the veracity of Ponomarev's claims not withstanding and his endorsement of armed action against the regime resulted in his blacklisting by the Russian Action Committee, an anti-Putin exile group. According to the committee's statement, this was because he "called for terrorist attacks on Russian territory," The committee's statement also implied that Dugina was a "civilian" who "did not take part in the armed confrontation," and condemned denunciations of Aleksandr Dugin following the attack as "a demonstrative rejection of normal human empathy for the families of the victims." [63] [64]
On 2 April 2023, a bombing occurred in the Street Food Bar No.1 café on Universitetskaya Embankment in Saint Petersburg, Russia, during an event hosted by Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky (real name Maxim Fomin), who died as a result of the explosion. [65] [66] [67] 42 people were also injured, 24 of whom were hospitalized, including six in critical condition. [68] [69] [70] The bomb was allegedly hidden inside a statuette and handed to him as a gift by an "unidentified woman". [71]
Russia accused Ukraine of being behind the attack and labelled it a "terrorist act", while Ukraine blamed the attack on "domestic terrorism". [72] The National Republican Army also claimed responsibility for the attack. [73] Darya Trepova, a Russian citizen, was later convicted to 27 years in prison for the attack in 2024. [73]
On 6 May 2023, in Pionerskoye village, Bor District, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, an anti-tank mine exploded under an Audi Q7 car, in which the ultranationalist writer and politician Zakhar Prilepin was driving. Prilepin received severe leg injuries, and his bodyguard died on the spot. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Atesh, a militant group of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars. [74] [75]
On 11 July 2023, Navy Captain Stanislav Rzhitsky, deputy head of military mobilization efforts in Krasnodar, was shot and killed while jogging. As commander of the submarine Krasnodar based in the Black Sea, he was accused of launching missiles that struck Vinnytsia in July 2022 and killed 23 civilians, although his father claimed he had left active service prior to the invasion in 2021. [76]
On 22 May, another cross-border raid took place, this time in the Belgorod Oblast; in the Kozinka, Gora-Podol and Grayvoron districts. The Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL) and Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), as well as allied Polish, Belarusian and Chechen militant groups, claimed responsibility for the attacks. A Ukrainian spokesperson, Andrii Yusov, made the same claim, stating that the attacks were to "liberate" the regions and to provide a buffer zone to protect Ukrainian civilians. Russian authorities attributed the attacks to "a Ukrainian sabotage-reconnaissance group", and imposed a "counter-terrorist operation regime" in the region to combat the incursion. [80] The anti-government forces, however, left Russian territory on May 24, with the exception of a few soldiers who would stage a short incursion into Glotovo on May 25. [81] [82]
On 1 June, the FRL and RVC, alongside their allied groups, launched another raid into Belgorod Oblast, this time near the small towns of Shebekino and Novaya Tavolzhanka, with Belgorod City itself being the target of UAV and missile attacks. [83] Most troops left however on June 17, after Russian forces retook control of Novaya Tavolzhanka two days prior, with sporadic incursions and shellings soon ensuing through the rest of June and July. [84]
On 19 June, Russian sources claimed that 7 civilians where wounded due to anti-government shelling in Belgorod. [85] And on 22 June, the Russian ministry of Defense claimed to have used thermobaric weapons against remaining partisans in the Oblast. [86] During the Wagner Group rebellion on 24 June, it was noted by the Atlantic Council that some anti-government partisans were still operating in Belgorod, organizing ambushes on Russian troops and sabotage of important military infrastructure. [87]
In mid-July, the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence published a video showing Chechen volunteers of the Separate Special Purpose Battalion ambushing a Russian military truck at Sereda, Belgorod, killing two Russian soldiers. [88]
On 28 September, the Freedom of Russia Legion claimed that it had begun another raid into Belgorod Oblast. The Russian Astra Telegram channel also stated that Russian troops were battling pro-Ukrainian forces at the border. [89]
On 17 December 2023, the FRL and RVC partisans launched yet another raid into Belgorod. According to a Russian official and other Russian as well as Ukrainian sources, the insurgents targeted the Morozovsk airbase with "mass drone strikes", while clashing with security forces at the village of Terebreno. [90] [91] The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence subsequently claimed that a Russian "platoon stronghold" at Terebreno had been destroyed by the rebels. [92] The Freedom of Russia Legion claimed responsibility for the raid, and stated that it had withdrawn from Russian territory after mining the eliminated "stronghold" at Terebreno. [91]
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On 12 March 2024, the FRL and RVC, alongside allied Chechen and Romanian militant battalions launched raids into the Kursk and Belgorod Oblasts, claiming control of Tyotkino and Lozovaya Rudka. [93] [94] The raids continued until April 7, with anti-government forces claiming control of several villages in the meantime such as Gorkovsky and Kozinka, most forces however later left the region back into Ukraine. [95]
Ponomarev read the NRA's purported manifesto on a YouTube channel he owns, February Morning (Russian : Утро Февраля). [96] The text of the manifesto was also shared over February Morning's affiliated Telegram channel, Rospartizan (Russian : Роспартизан). [97] As of 26 August 2022 [update] , YouTube's metrics indicate video containing the claim of responsibility and sharing the manifesto is February Morning's most-seen video with 176,646 views. [96]
In a May 2022 conference of exiles in Vilnius sponsored by the Free Russia Forum, Ponomarev appealed to attendees to support direct action within Russia. A Spektr (Russian : Спектр) reporter noted an indifferent response from the attendees. [98]
Doubts of the NRA's responsibility and its very existence have been raised by a wide variety of commentators. [99] [100] A 22 August 2022 report from Reuters says that "[Ponomarev's] assertion and the group's existence could not be independently verified." [101] As for the assassination of Dugina, the sole suspect named by Russian investigators is a Ukrainian woman whom, Russia claims, is part of its military. The Russian government has also stated that the woman fled to Estonia following the assassination. [102] The governments of Ukraine and Estonia each denied any role in the assassination of Darya Dugina. [103] [104] [105]
The Russian authorities were forced to tighten security measures on the railways following the derailing of trains by resistance movements.
On 8 May 2022, the Telegram channel of the Stop the Wagons movement was blocked. According to their own statements, they were blocked "after the publication of a map of railway resistance, which covered over 30% of the territory of Russia." [106] [107] On 19 July, the website of Stop the Wagons was also blocked by Roskomnadzor in Russia at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office. [108] [109]
In August 2022, a court in Moscow fined the Telegram messenger 7 million Russian rubles (quoted by TASS as equivalent to US$113,900) for refusing to remove channels providing instructions for railway sabotage and containing "propaganda pushing the ideology of anarchism." [110] [111] [112]
Ilya Vladimirovich Ponomarev is a Russian-Ukrainian politician who was a member of the Russian State Duma from 2007 to 2016.
Grayvoronsky District is an administrative district (raion), one of the twenty-one in Belgorod Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Grayvoronsky Municipal District. It is located in the west of the oblast. The area of the district is 853.8 square kilometers (329.7 sq mi). Its administrative center is the town of Grayvoron. Population: 29,137 (2010 Census); 31,567. The population of Grayvoron accounts for 21.4% of the district's total population.
The Freedom of Russia Legion, also called the Free Russia Legion, is a Ukrainian-based paramilitary unit of Russian citizens, which opposes the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin and its invasion of Ukraine. It was formed in March 2022 and is reportedly part of Ukraine's International Legion. It consists of defectors from the Russian Armed Forces, and other Russian volunteers, some of whom had emigrated to Ukraine. It is one of several such units participating in the Russo-Ukrainian War on behalf of Ukraine.
There have been attacks in mainland Russia as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022. The main targets have been the military, the arms industry and the oil industry. Many of the attacks have been drone strikes, firebombing, and rail sabotage. The Ukrainian intelligence services have acknowledged carrying out some of these attacks. Others have been carried out by anti-war activists in Russia. There have also been cross-border shelling, missile strikes, and covert raids from Ukraine, mainly in Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk oblasts. Several times, Ukrainian-based paramilitaries launched incursions into Russia, captured border villages and battled the Russian military. These were carried out by units made up mainly of Russian emigrants. While Ukraine supported these ground incursions, it denied direct involvement.
The Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists is a militant anarcho-communist organization in Eastern Europe, part of the Belarusian and Russian partisan movement. It aims for social revolution and a libertarian socialist society. Since the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has sabotaged railway infrastructure in Russia and Belarus, as well as attacking Russian military commissariats and telecommunications. According to The Insider, the group has become "the most active 'subversive' force" in Russia since the war began.
Darya Aleksandrovna Dugina, also known under the pen name Daria Platonova, was a Russian journalist, political scientist, and activist. She was the daughter of Aleksandr Dugin, a supporter of Vladimir Putin and a far-right political philosopher, whose support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine she shared.
The National Republican Army is an alleged underground partisan group of Russians inside Russia working towards the violent overthrow of the Putin government. The group claims to be a member of the Irpin Declaration, an alleged alliance of anti-government Russian militant groups.
The Russian Action Committee is a coalition movement of the Russian opposition in exile, formed on May 20, 2022 at the II Anti-War Conference of the Free Russia Forum in Vilnius, Lithuania. The movement was co-founded by Garry Kasparov, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
A series of Molotov cocktail arson attacks and shootings took place in Russian military commissariat registration and enlistment offices following the start of the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Other governmental buildings were also attacked in multiple regions of Russia. Part of the Russian partisan and anti-war movements, the attacks were spurred by several factors, including the invasion of Ukraine, the deployment of Russian conscripts to the front line, the start of spring conscription, and rumors about possible mobilization in the country, which were later found to be true.
Stop the Wagons is a Russian anti-war movement that engaged in sabotaging Russian railways in various ways to prevent the transport of equipment, fuel, ammunition and other supplies to the war in Ukraine.
The rail war began in different regions of Russia in the spring of 2022 after a similar rail war in Belarus.
Busły laciać is a Belarusian opposition resistance group. It was founded on 13 November, 2020, to fight against the government of Alexander Lukashenko. The group is part of the "Supraciŭ" association, alongside the Cyber Partisans.
The Russian Volunteer Corps is a far-right paramilitary unit of Russian citizens, based in Ukraine. It was formed in August 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to fight against the government of Vladimir Putin. The group reportedly consists of Russian emigrants who are primarily united by their opposition to Putin. According to Ukrainian military officials, the group is not a part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
National Socialism / White Power Crew, is a Neo-Nazi extremist group operating in Russia, recognized by the Supreme Court of Russia as a “terrorist organization”.
We Are Together with Russia is a pro-Russian collaborationist organization operating in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast and supported by the Russian authorities. It describes itself as an "integration movement". The movement actively advocates the accession of the region to the Russian Federation, and according to the Ukrainian media it is actively involved in the preparation of "referendums" on the occupied Ukrainian territories becoming part of Russia. Its activities are being organized by the United Russia party and the All-Russia People's Front, headed by Vladimir Putin.
The Black Bridge is a Russian partisan movement opposed to the rule of Vladimir Putin. The organization supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The Irpin Declaration is an alleged political union between the Freedom of Russia Legion, the National Republican Army and the Russian Volunteer Corps formed on 31 August 2022. The existence of the National Republican Army has never been confirmed, and the Russian Volunteer Corps denies ever signing the declaration.
On 2 March 2023, the Russian authorities said that an armed Ukrainian group crossed the border and attacked the villages of Lyubechane and Sushany in Bryansk Oblast. Russia said the attackers fired on a car, killing two civilians, before the Federal Security Service forced them back into Ukraine. The raid was claimed by the Russian Volunteer Corps; a paramilitary group of Russian citizens, based in Ukraine, which opposes the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin. Russia called the incident a terrorist attack, and said its 9 March missile strikes on Ukraine were retaliation. Ukraine's government denied involvement; it said the incident could have been a false-flag attack by Russia to justify its ongoing war against Ukraine, or else an attack by anti-government partisans from within Russia.
On 22 May 2023, armed groups from Ukraine carried out a cross-border raid into Belgorod Oblast, Russia. Two Russian rebel groups allied with and based in Ukraine—the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL) and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC)—claimed to have taken control of several border settlements, and clashed with Russian government forces. The Polish Volunteer Corps participated in the raid. Russian authorities said the attacks were conducted by a Ukrainian "sabotage group", and imposed counter-terrorism measures in the region. It was the largest cross-border attack during the war since the initial beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
On 12 March 2024, during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Ukrainian-backed armed groups launched a cross-border incursion from Ukraine into Russia. They entered Belgorod and Kursk Oblasts and clashed with the Russian military. At least three groups took part: the Freedom of Russia Legion, Russian Volunteer Corps and Sibir Battalion. They claimed control of at least four settlements in Russia, and many other border settlements remained under contested control. The Russian defense ministry denied this, repeatedly claiming it had beaten back the attackers and forced them to retreat, despite continued fighting. The incursion took place during the 2024 Russian presidential election and was one of several cross-border incursions into Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
The Anti-Defamation League describes [Denis Nikitin] as a "neo-Nazi" who lived in Germany for many years.