Russian saboteurs reveal covert operations for Ukraine — SkimNews
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- Ivan and Foma, two Russians working for Ukraine's GUR military intelligence, gave rare first-hand accounts of sabotage operations inside Russia in a BBC World Service documentary by Polish journalist Marcin Mamon.
- Ivan claims he played a role from inside Russia in Ukrainian drone attacks on strategic bombers and munitions factories, and is believed to have been involved in the strike on the Yelabuga military drone factory in June last year that reportedly killed one person.
- Foma runs a covert network of roughly three dozen volunteers across Russia, Ukraine, and Europe who surveil high-level Russian officers flagged by GUR, and admitted his network tracked Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov before his assassination in Moscow in December 2025.
- Ukraine's GUR confirmed both men work for the agency, but when pressed by the BBC, one handler conceded: "I'm not sure of anyone, except myself" — a striking admission of the mutual distrust baked into the pipeline.
- Foma estimates 300-500 Russians are conducting similar work for Kyiv, though the BBC notes this figure is impossible to verify, and Foma's network says it only passes intelligence and never carries out assassinations itself.
- Ivan warns that the pool of ideological recruits inside Russia is shrinking because "most of the ideological people have either left the country or are already behind bars," with many saboteurs now being paid rather than politically motivated.
- Ukraine previously admitted to the BBC it was behind the December 2024 killing of Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, though Kyiv never officially claims responsibility for targeted assassinations inside Russia as a matter of policy.
Why it matters: The accounts expose a sabotage pipeline that Ukraine cannot fully verify — GUR itself admitting it "cannot know the full picture" — yet depends on heavily. If Foma's 300-500 figure is even roughly accurate, it represents a persistent threat to Russian military leadership, but Ivan's warning that ideological recruits inside Russia are drying up suggests the pipeline is getting harder to sustain as Moscow tightens internal control.
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