“isolated” agents, detailed information, sabotage… How Atesh, the resistance network in Crimea works

The members of this network are the eyes and ears of Ukraine in Crimea. Franceinfo had access to exclusive audio documents to better understand how this resistance is organized.

They are the eyes and ears of Ukrainians in Crimea. At enormous risk to their lives, resistance fighters in this territory occupied for ten years are sending information to Ukraine to destroy Russian military sites. These resistance fighters transmit any type of information on Russian positions or troop movements via messaging or a secure application. Most of this data is erased once verified and used.

However, we obtained ten recordings. Resistance fighters who bring up anything that could help the Ukrainian army from Crimean soil. Here are two recording transcripts obtained: “Three minutes after passing the fuel tanks, there was a passenger train. It passed in the same direction towards Jenkoi. There were about 15 wagons. I looked at the train timetable, it didn’t “There are no passenger trains at that time. They are soldiers in this convoy.”

“There are large Ural type trucks at the rest area of ​​the M4 road. They have to go to Ukraine on the night of July 7-8 but I think with sand in their tank and with a few more nice gifts they won’t go very far.”

Is this type of information enough to produce results? Among the biggest “takes” that Atesh highlights is the strike on the Russian Black Sea fleet HQ in Sevastopol in September. There are other activities that are much less spectacular but which still raise doubts in the minds of the Russians. As evidenced by a radio exchange where we hear a Russian commander in his base, not very calm: “It’s starting! Damn, there’s a news that says there’s a fire planned by Atesh’s guys, by saboteurs, by those who are waiting for the Ukrainians, damn it!” In another recording, a Russian woman is heard asking her compatriots to tear down posters of Atesh which are beginning to appear in Crimean towns. This Russian citizen calls it a terrorist group.

“Our agents work in isolation”

It is difficult to know how many people are in the Atesh network. No one can confirm this kind of data but we were told of 1,800 people with a growing network including on Russian Federation soil at the moment. There are two categories of resistance. There are active agents, they are infiltrators on Russian bases. They are led to carry out acts of sabotage. And then there are the informants who send photos and geolocation data. This information is then transmitted to their coordinator, who is located in sovereign Ukraine, not in the occupied zone. And it is up to him to then liaise with the armed forces.

We were able to speak with one of the five coordinators in charge of Crimea. His name is Djokhar, he is 28 years old. He is a civilian, he insists on this point. “Our agents work in isolation, says Dzhokhar. It’s very rare that there are two of them in an action. We sometimes receive information from officers on military bases, from sergeants or from ordinary soldiers who work inside.”

“This is more detailed and precise information like working hours at airfields, when their planes take off and what types of planes. Sometimes it can be details about patrols and units that protect strategic sites.”

Dzhokhar, coordinator in charge of Crimea

at franceinfo

We must understand how risky it is for these resistance fighters to pass on this information. In Crimea, cell phones and computers are searched at checkpoints, communications are monitored, sometimes even with software that recovers deleted files. Even for peaceful Crimeans, without any connection to the resistance, there is no free speech. Osman called his family in Crimea in front of us. They talked about trivialities, the weather or the cost of living but never a word, ever, about the war. “We can only use pictorial language with our own codesexplains Osman. For example, when you want to talk about Putin, you call him by a feminine first name that starts with P. A not very common first name like Pakisé and you say for example: ‘Oh that this Pakisé finally dies!’ That’s how we create this kind of code in our private conversations.”

The Atesh network, which actually means “fire” in the Crimean Tatar language, guarantees that none of its members have been arrested but keeps in mind the image of Melitopol resistance fighters murdered by Russian forces for having published pro-Ukraine messages on social networks.