in the Sumy region, near the Russian border, Ukrainians live in fear of saboteurs

In the border areas with Russia, residents have to live with regular bombings. But what they fear most is the return of Russian saboteurs.

In Ukraine, the authorities evacuated villages from the border area with Russia. In the Sumy region, shelling and bombing are regular, but what worries residents the most is the return of saboteurs who cross the border to sow terror in these border territories.

The car is registered in kyiv, more than 500 kilometers away, riddled with bullets : around ten on the windshield, at least the double on the passenger side. No chance was given to the two occupants. At the grocery store in the village of Pysarivka, less than 10 kilometers from the border with the Russians, Galina already knows that a man and a woman, brother and sister, had been shot dead three hours earlier by four-way saboteurs. kilometers from his business. Enough to keep her in a state of fear that has become permanent for her. “It’s scary, very scary, she blurted out. Because you’re walking down the street and you don’t know who’s walking in front : our soldiers or saboteurs, or even someone else. We don’t know who we might run into. They might as well come into our yard and shoot us.”

“They are not walkers in the forest”

A group of soldiers enters the grocery store. One buys antiseptic, the others something to eat. This soldier confirms the action carried out that very morning. Sergei, the owner of the grocery store, admits to being afraid of saboteurs, like everyone else. But to sabotage, he says, you often have to be very well informed. “What is the best ? Return to the village and make an agreement with a resident with a modest standard of living to provide them with information or do something dirty like that, quickly ? I think it’s better to have the information first to aim for more precise targets.”

“It’s even more worrying when you know there are informants around here.”

Sergei, merchant

on franceinfo

It is a special unit of Russian forces that is making these incursions on Ukrainian soil. : the diversion and intelligence group. “These are specially trained people, they are not walkers in the forest, explains Roman Tkatch, spokesperson for the Sumy border guards. They are prepared physically and follow specific training for many other skills. Their goal is to infiltrate, hide, carry out their tasks without being seen and return home.”

In recent weeks saboteurs have also captured Ukrainian soldiers. The beginning of the investigation even showed that they had spent two days, like ghosts, hidden in a house in the village.