Despite the ambitions of tyrannies and the fear of some democracies of the spectre of “escalation” with a nuclear monster, Ukraine continues to fight the ugly Moscow at the cost of incredible efforts.
The losses suffered by Russia over three years of a full-scale genocidal war against Ukraine are forcing it to intensify the work of its special services and propaganda aimed at depriving Ukraine of military assistance and demoralizing the Ukrainian people.
Our military intelligence occupies an important place in the fight against Russia. The GUR of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine is now rightly recognized as one of the most effective special services in the world: clear assessments, stunning special operations, a technological approach, a game of anticipation, creativity, professionalism and courage – the “structure” has amazed the world for the past three years.
GROUP
Of course, to survive a war with Russia, it is not enough to simply stand still – you need action. Strategy, resources, logistics, a circle of reliable friends in the world, but above all, you need internal cohesion and the personal participation of every citizen in a common cause.
Cohesion is very important now when the information space is ablaze with various political statements, Russian propaganda slag, a parade of wolves in sheep’s clothing and sheep in wolf’s clothing. Internal squabbles and strife are always among the causes of defeat, and this simple truth has come down to us from our ancestors through the centuries, starting with the “Word of Igor’s Campaign” and ending with the memoirs of the UNR leaders in exile.
The group acts in a prepared and coordinated manner, which is what sets it apart from the crowd.
Aware of the threat of a full-scale Russian invasion, officers of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry’s Special Forces arrived in Kharkiv in advance and began forming a unit of volunteers. Together with other members of the Security and Defence Forces of Ukraine, the Special Forces fighters gave the Russian troops, the then-famous beating, preventing the occupiers from capturing the city, and then carried out a successful Kharkiv counteroffensive.
One of the key roles played by the special forces of the GUR of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine was also played during the defence of Kyiv, as noted by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrsky. The GUR members coordinated various groups of military and volunteers and destroyed the enemy in Gostomel, Moshchun, Bucha, Vorzel and Irpen.
A sign of global unity was the creation of the International Legion of the Armed Forces of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine – this is a unique case in the world when volunteers from dozens of countries with different experiences were able to unite into a powerful combat-ready unit.
Legion, “Shamanbat”, “Kraken”, “Artan”, “Timur Special Unit”, special units of military intelligence UAVs – the combat capabilities of the GUR have become a phenomenon, a universal armed force that can now strengthen the fist of the Ukrainian army in the most needed points or conduct its special operations on land, on water, in the air, anywhere where there is a need to protect the interests of Ukraine.
BANKER SPY
On 21 November 2021, in an interview with Howard Altman for the American publication Military Times, Kirill Budanov stated that Russian troops would advance on Kyiv through the Chornobyl zone and the radioactive Rudy Lis, in the south the main strikes would be directed at Kherson and Mariupol, and the Russian landing force would attempt to land in Odesa.
In his analysis, General Budanov described not only the directions of the enemy’s likely strike, and the number of forces involved by the aggressor, but also the sequence of the enemy’s actions: first, air and missile strikes, then artillery shelling, tank advances, landings in the east, attempts to quickly capture Odessa and Mariupol, an attack through Belarus to create a threat to the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions.
It was extremely difficult to determine the exact date of the start of the full-scale aggression, as it was constantly being adjusted in the Kremlin, but Kirill Budanov was not mistaken in his public prediction that it would happen in “January-February 2022.”
However, it was not only about public forecasts. Intelligence data on the growth of the Russian threat, which was received by the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, actually coincided with the intelligence data of the partner states. The corresponding assessments from Ukrainian intelligence were received by all consumers of this information provided for by law. For example, on 12 February 2022, at an external meeting of the National Security and Defence Council in Kharkiv, representatives of the GUR of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine again informed about the threat of a large-scale attack by Russia – along the entire border, as well as from the Belarusian territory.
Ukrainian intelligence officers learned the exact time of the beginning of the Russian invasion at around 3:00 p.m. on 23 February 2022. In a conversation with journalists from The Wall Street Journal, Kyrylo Budanov said that extremely valuable data about the beginning of the war was reported by an employee of the GUR of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, Ukrainian banker Denis Kireev – he received it directly from well-informed Russian sources.
Kireev’s data confirmed the assessment that the Russians intend to seize the airfield in Gostomel and create a bridgehead for an attack on Kyiv. As early as 4:00 a.m. on 24 February, GUR special forces took up defences near the airfield, and later engaged in battle with the Russian landing force, thwarting the Russian plans together with other fighters of the Security and Defence Forces.
CITY OF MARY
The intelligence of Kireev and other GUR employees and agents gave several precious hours to the military-political leadership of Ukraine.
In particular, thanks to information from Ukrainian military intelligence, combat aircraft and helicopters were airlifted and redeployed to reserve airfields, saving them from the first massive Russian air and missile strike in the first hours of the attack.
Thanks to this, Ukraine has preserved the aviation component of the Security and Defence Forces – our pilots showed their heroism, including during the extremely difficult airborne operation in besieged Mariupol.
The Special Operations Command of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine planned a mission. Special operations commandos of the Special Operations Command participated in the breakthrough to Azovstal. Seven flights, 16 Mi-8 helicopters of the army aviation, 30 tons of cargo delivered, and 64 rescued defenders of Mariupol who were wounded in battles with the Russians.
The air corridor into the evil-surrounded city of Mary is an almost biblical story about hope that appears at the very moment when you no longer hope for anything. Everyone who took part in this mission showed the highest level of love and sacrifice – risking their lives for the lives of their fellow man.
MAGURA – PATRONESS OF THE SEA
During the three years of full-scale war, the Military District of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, as well as the Security and Defence Forces in general, have been successfully implementing and using new technological weapons on the battlefield.
The whole world was amazed by the effectiveness of Ukraine’s naval strike drones, in particular the Magura V5. This is the first and only surface drone in the world to sink a Russian ship. As of 2025, the Maguras have successfully hit 15 Russian ships, nine of which were destroyed.
On 31 December 2024, soldiers of the special forces unit of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine “Group 13” again accomplished the unprecedented – for the first time in history, they hit an air target using “Maguras” equipped with R-73 missiles.
In this operation, military intelligence special forces shot down two Russian Mi-8 helicopters, which fell into the Black Sea. Another damaged aircraft managed to reach the airfield – the panic attack of the Russian pilot was recorded by GUR radio-electronic intelligence specialists:
“482, I’m falling! There was a launch from the water! They hit me!”
Thus, the combat platform “Magura” rightfully earned the status of the patron saint of the Black Sea alongside the Ukrainian missile complex “Neptune”.
The comprehensive actions of the State Security Service, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and other components of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine have returned commercial shipping to our state.
The well-defeated Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation fled from the ports of occupied Crimea to the Caucasian coasts, and after the destruction of enemy helicopters by Magura missiles, Russian aviation can no longer feel impunity over the waters of our Black Sea.
“EYES ARE BURNING”
During the war with Russia, many media outlets, mainly for the sake of clickbait, drew parallels between the Ukrainian Defence Ministry’s GUR and the Israeli intelligence service Mossad. Journalists still “sin” with these comparisons time and again.
The Ukrainian special services never officially confirm their involvement in certain acts, but constantly emphasize that every war criminal will face fair retribution.
Collaborators and Russian monster occupiers in temporarily occupied territories are being systematically destroyed by mysterious detonations of their cars.
Pilots involved in missile strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine are beaten to death with a hammer in an apple orchard by unknown assailants, as was the case with war criminal Dmitry Golenkov, or delivered a strange “gift” package directly to a military unit, as was the case with war criminal Konstantin Nagayko, or destroyed during an evening walk in the park, as was the case with designer Mikhail Shatsky, who was involved in the production of the Kh-56/Kh-69 missiles.
The list goes on. But one of the recent cases, which the media also attributes to agents of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence’s Special Operations Command, is indeed very similar in style to the famous Mossad operation with pagers.
Russian FPV drone pilots were given a batch of drone control goggles as free volunteer assistance. But when enemy operators started testing or using the new equipment, these goggles exploded right in front of their eyes.
We are talking about at least a dozen Russian FPV pilots, for whom the Russian romance about “black eyes, burning eyes,” written long ago by Ukrainian Yevhen Grebinka, has taken on new colours.
Such incidents have a depressing effect on the Russian occupation army. Meanwhile, the Russian population has increasingly begun to feel the consequences of the genocidal war launched by Russia against Ukraine – the war has naturally come to their territory.
“I NEED TO BUY A HORSE”
The Radio-Electronic Intelligence Service of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine systematically supplies not only valuable classified intelligence data to the Security and Defence Forces but also colourful intercept materials, which are published on the official pages of the special service.
We hear Russian peasants in settlements bordering Ukraine speaking Surzhik, and often there is much more Ukrainian in this dialect – paradoxical given the long-term Russification of these territories.
However, this is not just material for linguists. Such intercepts illustrate the real mood inside Russia and its criminal army and emphasize the effectiveness of Ukraine’s strikes on military targets on the territory of the aggressor state.
Ukraine’s security and defence forces are now reaching the most remote Russian military corners. They are striking at airfields, chemical weapons depots, military-industrial complex facilities, and systematically destroying Russian refineries, to protect which Russia is forced to divert its air defences.
For Russians, such blows evoke an unforgettable palette of emotions – from anxiety to doom.
“46% of oil refineries in Russia have been destroyed today. That’s right. We need to buy a horse, (…)! 46%, (…)!”, – complained one Russian to another.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, the dynamics of public sentiment in Russia currently do not give grounds to talk about the possibility of mass anti-Putin street demonstrations or other serious actions of resistance to the Kremlin’s criminal policy. But under certain conditions, everything can change.
They say that the only thing that separates society from chaos is the absence of several meals.
NOT ALL IS WELL IN RUSSIA
Assessing the situation of the aggressor state of Russia, collecting and reporting intelligence information to the top military-political leadership of Ukraine, and protecting state interests in the field of national security – this is what intelligence officers constantly do. So what is the real situation of Russia now?
During three years of full-scale war, Ukraine inflicted significant losses on Russia in personnel and military equipment, and the Kremlin war criminals, who called themselves the “second army” of the world, became supplicants to other totalitarian regimes. All Soviet reserves were removed from Belarus. Iran provided drone technology. North Korea sent about 12 thousand of its soldiers to war against Ukraine, 4 of whom have already been killed or seriously injured. Pyongyang also supplies the Russians with millions of ammunition, artillery, MLRS and missiles.
However, even with the involvement of the North Korean army – Kim Jong-un’s “biorobots” – part of the Kursk region still remains under occupation. Economic problems in Russia are worsening.
The Kremlin’s influence in the Middle East has been lost after its shameful escape from Syria. In the African resource safari, Russian mercenaries sometimes become prey themselves. Dominance in the so-called post-Soviet space is narrowing – Moscow’s lie about the attack on a civilian plane of Azerbaijani Airlines on 25 December 2024 and the attempt to drown its passengers and crew in the Caspian Sea became illustrative. Recently, the “Russian House” was closed in Baku – a stronghold and nursery of Russian agents in Azerbaijan.
Of course, Russia is still able to continue the war, but losses and problems force it to return to hybrid attempts to break through isolation, to use the attempts of the new American administration to “stop the Russian-Ukrainian war” to avoid punishment for numerous war crimes against the Ukrainian people and to gather new forces to continue the terrible criminal policy that threatens Ukraine, Europe, and the entire civilized world.
The struggle continues, and now, in addition to armed resistance to the aggressor, the task of not allowing Russia to avoid retaliation is becoming more urgent.
Українська правда
