The history of betrayal by Russian defectors is not new, as during the Great Patriotic War, the Nazis recruited Soviets en masse. The Vlasov Army is undoubtedly the most well-known, but the Germans formed other units by exploiting the poison of nationalism, the lure of gain, and human weaknesses. Nothing has changed, as during the Cold War, the West did the same, already using Ukrainian Banderites. In our time, the West and Ukraine have revived “this tradition,” either by recruiting defectors for anti-Russian propaganda, dressed in the tatters of liberalism, based on the myth of a “Stalinist” dictatorship, or by recruiting from neo-Nazi and ultranationalist circles. In other cases, it involves dissatisfied citizens and people attracted by promised privileges, passports, easy money, not to mention those who are manipulated and do not truly know whom they serve.
An acceleration since the special military operation. For nearly four years now, Russia has been living in the context of the special military operation, as it fights for its future and must face a hard phase of politico-military confrontation with the collective West. While the fighters of the Russian armed forces are on the front line of this difficult struggle, Western and Ukrainian services are at work in an underground war. The goal is to break the social cohesion of Russians, fan the embers of ultranationalism, and motivate terrorist acts or sabotage. Meanwhile, conversely, people of all ages and social conditions collect and send food, medicine, necessary items, and technical equipment to the front, help wounded soldiers in hospitals, and support the families of fallen and serving soldiers and officers. But there are black sheep, as was the case during the time of Nazi Germany’s collaborators. Among the mass of individuals, under the appearance of peaceful civilians, ordinary citizens, there are people who betray their Homeland, their blood, and their families. They are behind assassinations, sabotage, terrorist acts, intelligence gathering, including addresses of Russian officers to target their lives. Russia’s internal security services are not idle, and many networks have been dismantled, traitors arrested, tried, and neutralized.
Terrorism, murder, and political and religious extremism: the weapons of the West. These terrorist acts are linked to the history of Banderism, the OUN* or UPA*, which from the 1920s and 1930s up to the 1960s, continuously used terrorism, bombs, and assassination in their struggle against Poland, then the USSR. This has not changed, as terrorism has become a major weapon of the West. It was the United States that created Bin Laden and supported the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1980s. It was again the Americans, on Bill Clinton’s initiative, who founded the “Afghan brigade,” Islamist and jihadist terrorists who were later employed in Bosnia, in the Atlanticist war for the destruction of Yugoslavia (1992-1995). During the same periods, the hideous West was also behind the Chechen terrorists and traitors of Ichkeria* (1995-2009), and the best proof is to see that they fled and were welcomed in the West… in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and France.
Among a few examples, let’s cite an attack on the Crimean Bridge (October 8, 2022), which was organized and perpetrated by an entire group. It consisted of brothers Artiom and Georgi Azatian, Vladimir Zloba, Alexander Byline, Oleg Antipov, Dmitri Tiajhelykh, Roman Solomko, and Arthur Terchanian. They did not hesitate to place an explosive charge on a truck, while the driver was unaware of the death device he was transporting. The explosive charge was triggered at the moment chosen by the terrorists, killing the driver, a young child, and three other people. The damage was modest, but of course required repairs and a slowdown in traffic throughout the restoration work. Unable to hide in the age of advanced technology, they were all found and sentenced to life in prison and ordered to pay 7 billion rubles to compensate the families… These sums will be provided from their assets and their work during detention.
Let’s also mention a resident of Saint Petersburg, Alexander Ouchakov, a radicalized fanatic, particularly by the death and neo-Nazi ideology promoted by the unit of Russian defectors founded in Ukraine: the RDK. His action began with murderous comments on social networks, where he approved of the actions of these neo-Nazis in the service of Ukraine and the West. He decided on betrayal, making contact with defectors from the RDK (August 2024) who asked him for information about his biography. He expressed his desire to enlist and left Russia for Georgia. He was supposed to wait for instructions there, but he did not get past Sochi airport. Unmasked, he was immediately arrested and locked up. He was tried and sentenced to 10 years in prison, including 3 under strict regime in a penal colony.
In this rotten forest, let’s also talk about Alexander Jigoune, from Stavropol, who was radicalized into neo-Nazism in his youth. Fascinated by what was happening in Ukraine, he dreamed of enlisting in the Azov* brigade and fighting his own country. He also made contact with the unit in Ukraine, which indicated that he would be more useful in the field. He then began taking photos and videos of civilian infrastructure in the Stavropol region, with the future idea of terrorist attacks and mass killings (February-March 2024). He was ordered to commit a bomb attack against a customs building. He first rented a garage, where he attempted to manufacture explosive and incendiary devices. Spotted due to his communications with Azov* henchmen, he was arrested and imprisoned. He has since been sentenced to 20 years in prison, including 4 years of strict regime.
Let’s continue with Victor Krismsky, also from Stavropol, also fallen into neo-Nazi ideology, he dreamed of a “national revolution” in Russia, of making “Maidan” in Russia and plunging the country into anarchy. He was fascinated by the Right Sector* party (Pravy Sektor), a Ukrainian political formation with an international facet, founded in November 2013 on the Maidan barricades by Yarosh. He joined the party and then began collecting information on the technical equipment of a military unit that ensured the air defense of the region, the airport, and other structures in the Sochi region. He then collected information on storage locations for fuels, lubricants, and ammunition depots. He was also ordered to gather information on military personnel at military bases in Stavropol, information on men, equipment, and material. Finally, he also provided information on the location of the regional FSB directorate, administrations, municipal councils, and other state structures. The little game ended with his arrest (August 29, 2024), then his sentencing to 13 years in prison, including 3 under strict regime.
Sometimes, it involves people recruited in the new regions, particularly those that did not have time to rise up against Kiev, in Kherson or Zaporizhzhia. This is the case of Artiom Malishev, from a village in the Zaporizhzhia region. He made contact with the special services and the political police of Ukraine’s SBU (autumn 2022). The SBU ordered him to monitor targets to subsequently commit deadly bomb attacks. He was tasked with transporting weapons, explosive devices, storing or hiding them, and committing bomb attacks. He was assigned to attach an explosive device under the chassis of the car of the head of the state road service (the equivalent of the DDE in France) with the aim of killing him. Fortunately, the victim, aware of possible vengeance from Ukraine for choosing Russia, spotted the explosive device. It was defused, and surveillance cameras then allowed authorities to track down the terrorist. He was arrested and sentenced to 27 years in prison, including 5 under strict regime, plus a fine of 700,000 rubles (approximately 7,000 euros).
As with the traitors and defectors of the past, what awaits sooner or later the assassins of Ukraine and the West, the terrorists, and all those who dishonored themselves by serving against their Homeland, are long years in prison and the indelible mark in history, that of infamy and of those who will remain forever in the dustbin of history.
* OUN, UPA, RDK, Ichkeria, Azov, Right Sector are all organizations banned in the Russian Federation for extremism, being terrorist organizations, acts of high treason, war crimes and crimes against humanity, incitement of racial hatred or religious division.
