Video: Partisan Sabotage Attack in Smolensk Shuts Down Russian Air Defenses

An agent of the Atesh partisan movement carried out a sabotage attack against external telecommunications equipment belonging to Russia’s armed forces, near the Russian city of Smolensk, 270 kilometers north of the Ukrainian border.

“An agent of our movement destroyed the external telecommunications cabinet of a communication tower in the village of Stanychky near Smolensk,” the partisans reported on social media.

According to the guerrillas, because of the damage caused to the equipment, the communication network of the air defense system of Russia’s 49th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, which was located on a raised tower, ceased to function.

The stability of the military command and control system in the region was disrupted for some time. Representatives of the Atesh movement said that the Russian air defense system was significantly weakened, which will make it possible to effectively strike Russian armed forces facilities in the Moscow Military District.

“We are expecting unknown UAVs in the region,” Atesh reported.

In March, sources from the guerrilla movement told Kyiv Post that Russian intelligence services were conducting large-scale activities to discredit pro-Ukrainian movements, including Atesh.

Agents of the Atesh guerrilla movement are closely monitoring the situation in Russian-occupied Crimea and claim that the Kremlin continues to collect troops there and is taking measures intended to deter Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups operating in Sevastopol.

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The guerrillas claim that the Russian command is reinforcing the coastal defense line will be reinforced with infantry fighting vehicles to repel any attack by Ukrainian subversive reconnaissance groups and that.

Sources in the guerrilla movement also told Kyiv Post that Russian intelligence services are conducting large-scale activities aimed at discrediting pro-Ukrainian movements, including Atesh.

“Terrorist attacks are quite possible with subsequent accusations against Atesh,” the source said.

The guerrillas added that Russia will seek to blame Ukraine, and especially the resistance movements, for new terrorist acts in the coming weeks and months.

However, despite everything, Atesh once again calls on all residents of  Crimea  to record the activities of Russian troops on the peninsula and provide this information to the movement's coordinators.