Russia’s partisans are targeting Kremlin officials for assassination as they gain momentum, a leading rebel has told Express.co.uk
The Kremlin has been rocked by major political killings since the outbreak of hostilities with Ukraine in 2022.
Darya Dugina, daughter of the ultranationalist Russian philosopher Aleksander Dugin, was killed in a car bombing in August 2022. This was then followed by the assassination of a leading pro-Kremlin blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in a Saint Petersburg cafe in April 2023.
Both bombings were claimed by a Russian dissident movement calling itself the National Republican Army.
However since then the partisans have not carried out any more lethal attacks inside Russia, raising questions abut whether they are still operationally active.
Alexey Baranovsky, a volunteer fighter with the Free Russia Legion, told the Express.co.uk that the partisans still existed and were gaining momentum, adding that more political assassinations were in the offing.
Providing a rare insight into how they operate, he explained that partisans first and foremost play a key role in helping the rebels and Ukrainian army to carry out their attacks deep inside Russia.
“The groups have their own areas of work and tasks,” he explained. “Someone finds a target, someone else conducts reconnaissance, another prepares weapons/drones, someone launches them, someone records the results, etc.
“Moreover, all the links in this chain are not familiar with each other, so that if one cell fails, the partisan network as a whole will not suffer.”
The Russian Freedom Legion has its own partisan network that scouts out targets for their raids in the Belgorod and Kursk border regions, providing vital intelligence on Russia‘s military to the rebels.
When pressed on why the rebels and partisans were not going after Kremlin officials like their counterparts in the occupied regions of Ukraine, Alexey was adamant that these would soon happen again.
“As for targeted liquidations of top enemies responsible for the enslavement of Russia and aggression against Ukraine, such work is also underway,” he said.
“But, as you understand, this is not so easy in a totalitarian state. However, all enemies of freedom will answer sooner or later, don’t doubt it!”
Ukraine is facing an uphill struggle to repel the tide of Russian invaders, as it struggles to resupply its army with weapons and soldiers.
Putin’s army is achieving tactical success on the battlefield and advancing further into Ukraine. Some Western experts gloomily predict that Russia could win the war by the end of this summer.
Alexey, a drone operator, dismissed such defeatist talk, vowing that Ukraine and the Russian rebels will drive Putin’s hordes back to where they came from.
“Don’t rush to bury us – these are Putin’s myths that he can win,” he said. “Yes, they are slowly creeping forward, at the cost of thousands of lives of their soldiers going on ‘meat assaults’. And yes, it’s hard for the Ukrainian Defence Forces.
“But Ukraine is now well dug in, serious defensive structures have been built, and it is always easier to stand on the defensive than to attack. So the war will drag on and turn into a positional format.
“This is what we have at the moment. But if Ukraine’s Western partners finally begin supplying arms to Ukraine on a significant scale, then we will drive them back into the Moscow swamps from where they came.”
And in a plea for more Western military support he added: “We understand: elections, lobbying, opportunism, but every day our children die under Russian missiles and bombs.
“No games of democracy are worth human lives, which Ukraine is now paying for its civilisational choice in favour of the free world. So support us!”
Tyler Mitchell