The civilians who have joined the defense of the port city are responsible for flunking the dormant cells of the Russian army and are preparing to carry out guerrilla actions in case of taking the city.
Explosions resound permanently, night and day, in the neighborhood of the left bank of Maroupol. Missiles hit inhabited areas, wounded and killed by the inhabitants of this industrial and port city of the South of Ukraine, on the sea of Azov. And yet, Friday, February 25, the population of 430,000 people continues to go to its occupations, to queue the ticket distributor, to take the tramway to go to work … Only children have become invisible.
“We have confidence in the defense of our city, explains Olga Novikova, director of the Mariopoline Film Festival. We will resist until the end and we will not leave. My 18 year old son is committed this morning in The Territorial Defense. My other son would have done the same thing if he did not currently work in Africa. “
Territorial Defense is a branch of the Ukrainian army headed by professional military and consisting of voluntary commitments. Its function is to fight against Russian diversion groups infiltrated in urban areas. In case of taking the city by the enemy, the Territorial Defense is responsible for organizing and conducting an urban guerrilla.
At the Marucolian Headquarters of Territorial Defense, a large U-shaped building located on the left bank, a queue was formed behind gates guarded by soldiers in Kalashnikovs armed uniforms. They let the candidates enter the dropper.
“Very important influx of volunteers”
“Since Thursday, we observe a very important influx of volunteers. But we are looking at each candidate meticulously. Because these men will soon wear weapons, and there is no question that they turn against us [the Ukrainians], explains an officer under condition of anonymity. Candidates must be clean, that is to say we are studying their biography to be some of their motivations. We do not want “Vatniki” [a pejorative term designating supporters of Imperialist Russia] infiltrate our ranks and help the enemy. “
The current military haunting, police officers and intelligence services of Maroupol, they are the DRGs, the Russian acronym of “sabotage and recognition groups”. According to several soldiers interviewed by Le Monde, the city would count dozens of dormant cells of this kind. For now, they do not seem to be spent on action.
Maroupol has already been the target of destabilization operations. In March 2017, the head of Regional Counter-espionage Oleksandr Kharaberiuch was killed in the explosion of his car. An attack attributed by the SBU, the Ukrainian security services, the Prorussian separatists of the Donbass, a neighboring region of Maroupol, which seceded from the rest of the country in 2014, in the wake of the Maïdan Revolution. “Very many operations were foiled by the SBU,” says the anonymous officer.
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