The agent had been watching for weeks, carefully observing the movements of Russian patrols, surveillance blind spots and the irregular arrival of the cargo trains.
His testimony is a rare look inside the dangerous sabotage missions carried out by men and women behind enemy lines to derail [Vladimir Putin](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/russia-ukraine-war/)’s war effort.
Atesh and its agents The Telegraph spoke to argued that a ceasefire will not bring peace but mark a new stage in the shadow war being waged by Ukrainian resistance movements.
I think any insurgency will have a hard time unless it gets active support from the Ukrainian government. Which would pose a great risk for getting Russia to restart the war again. It seems more likely a lot of people who don’t want to live under Russian rule will move to unoccupied Ukraine, where they will be welcomed with open arms due to the demographic situation.
oripash on
Precisely what force on earth would ***force*** Ukraine to cede land in a war Ukraine is winning, if you don’t mind me asking?
Fruitpicker15 on
The Chechen resistance fought back but Russia just murders or imprisons anyone who is a potential threat.
4 Comments
***The Telegraph reports:***
The agent had been watching for weeks, carefully observing the movements of Russian patrols, surveillance blind spots and the irregular arrival of the cargo trains.
Slipping from the shadows, he planted homemade bombs on a railway track used to bring weapons and supplies to Moscow’s troops in eastern [Ukraine](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/12/30/trump-talks-us-boots-ground-ukraine/). “Boom, boom, boom”, he heard as he disappeared into the night.
Recounting his recent mission in [occupied Donetsk](https://connect.telegraph.co.uk/Citrix/TMGWeb/clients/HTML5Client/src/SessionWindow.html?launchid=1767274272232), the civilian working for the Ukrainian resistance told The Telegraph: “The goal was simple: disrupt transport on that route. I did everything so that the line simply became unusable long enough to stop traffic.”
He knows his brave act isn’t war-changing, but it provided “a bit of extra time for our troops on the other side of the front”. Combined with the efforts of at least 2,000 other agents working for [Atesh](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/10/12/i-set-fire-to-my-own-trenches-to-stop-putin-winning-war/), a pro-Ukrainian underground resistance network, “it adds up”, the 30-year-old agent said.
His testimony is a rare look inside the dangerous sabotage missions carried out by men and women behind enemy lines to derail [Vladimir Putin](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/russia-ukraine-war/)’s war effort.
“[Makiivka](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/02/hundreds-killed-ukrainian-himars-flatten-russian-barracks-one/) is my town. I know who walks where, where the streetlights don’t work, where dogs bark for no reason and I don’t stand out,” the agent added. It is because of exactly this – his intimate local knowledge – that an ordinary civilian has become such a valuable asset in the occupied territory.
It is the “invisible enemy” Putin may not be prepared for if Ukraine is [forced to surrender land](https://connect.telegraph.co.uk/Citrix/TMGWeb/clients/HTML5Client/src/SessionWindow.html?launchid=1767274272232) – including perhaps the rest of the [Donbas](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/18/maps-why-entire-peace-deal-hangs-on-small-strip-ukraine/), under the terms of a peace deal being pushed by Donald Trump, the US president.
Atesh and its agents The Telegraph spoke to argued that a ceasefire will not bring peace but mark a new stage in the shadow war being waged by Ukrainian resistance movements.
**Read more:** [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/06/invisible-army-resistance-sabotage-agents-occupied-liberate/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/06/invisible-army-resistance-sabotage-agents-occupied-liberate/)
I think any insurgency will have a hard time unless it gets active support from the Ukrainian government. Which would pose a great risk for getting Russia to restart the war again. It seems more likely a lot of people who don’t want to live under Russian rule will move to unoccupied Ukraine, where they will be welcomed with open arms due to the demographic situation.
Precisely what force on earth would ***force*** Ukraine to cede land in a war Ukraine is winning, if you don’t mind me asking?
The Chechen resistance fought back but Russia just murders or imprisons anyone who is a potential threat.