Along with the Ukrainian soldiers who are fighting for the reconquest of Kherson Oblast, there is a second army: “Rouch Oporu”, the Ukrainian resistance, which constantly monitors the movements of the invaders and has been active throughout the entire period since the capture of the village. southern cities by Russians, AFP reports.

Reconnaissance of Russian positions in Kherson by civilian drones

For 25 minutes, the drone flies over the mouth of the Dnipro River, its high-definition camera aimed at the shore occupied by Russia.

Hiding in the bushes, Alexei and Sergey, whose names have been changed to protect their identities, track the Russians’ positions on a dangerous mission.

The estuary in this southern part of Mykolayiv Oblast is 10 kilometers wide, but it is within the range of Russian artillery, and Russian forces can locate a place where their Chinese civilian model drone is controlled for 15 thousand euros. The two men repeatedly came under fire from the Russians.

This time the operation went without problems. Several trucks and new fortified positions were seen. The two briefly convey their findings to the soldiers before quickly walking away.

Separate cells with thousands of agents penetrated the territories occupied by Russia

They need a large screen for detailed analysis, locating possible targets and coordinating with the military.

Despite their impeccable uniforms and Western weapons, Serhii and Oleksiy are members of the Ukrainian resistance.

Oleksiy says he joined the resistance after learning about the mass murders committed by the Russians in Buch, a suburb of Kyiv. Until then, he had a family business in Kyiv. Mykola worked in the field of tourism.

It is difficult to clarify the structure of their relations with the military. “We work horizontally,” explains Oleksiy, when he safely arrived at the “friend” from where he was analyzing the pictures taken by the drone.

“Theoretically, I should have gone to the Military Commissariat in Mykolaiv to show the photos. But we know that we will solve it ourselves sooner,” he said.

Mykolaiv is the first major city west of Russian-occupied Kherson, where the Ukrainian army announced on Monday the start of a counteroffensive. It became the capital of the Ukrainian resistance movement in the south.

In the nameless building, Oleksiy introduces fifty-year-old Oleg, who coordinates this movement, about which he agreed to talk a little.

“It’s not one person or two. There are separate cells and thousands of people,” he said, referring to his “agents” who infiltrate the occupied territories.

The counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army is partially based on the data of the resistance movement

Almost all of them are civilians. Their main task: to monitor the movement of Russian troops.

“The counter-offensive is based in part on this data (…) We know where their command centers are, where they gather, where they deliver weapons, what are the main transport routes,” the masked man explains. balaclava

“This morning I spoke with one guy who said that 100 cars are gathering in one place (…) This person is not afraid of anything,” he continued.

Roman Kostenko, an ex-military man, deputy and secretary of the Defense Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, confirms: “the resistance movement was very effective.”

“We get information from satellites and drones, but we also need people to confirm the location of the targets,” he told AFP.

The resistance movement kills collaborators and occupiers

For several weeks, the Kherson region has been rocked by explosions and shelling of Russian military infrastructure. Targeted attacks occur almost daily.

On Monday, a Russian occupation official was shot dead there.

• VIDEO In Kherson, a former Ukrainian deputy who cooperated with the Russians was shot in the head / Zelensky’s fellow party member was previously attacked

Who commits these crimes? According to the Ukrainian officer who was in contact with the resistance, “some civilians are prepared, we provided them with weapons.”

Among them are former fighters of territorial defense brigades, who were trained by the Ukrainian special forces in January and “received Kalashnikov assault rifles.”

But Moscow’s control over the region is strengthening.

Several sources told AFP of cases of torture of civilians, sometimes simply for demonstrating against the Russian presence. AFP could not verify this information.

Vadim, who claims he was an “ordinary man” before the war, joined the resistance to “gather intelligence, create caches of weapons, transfer weapons to trained people.”

It tells the story of two territorial defense fighters whose cover was exposed. “One was killed, and I don’t know about the other,” he said.

To keep his family safe, he left the place only because he paid a $200 bribe at the checkpoint. There is no turning back yet.

“The Russians can say at any moment that they will catch us, the resistance is stronger. There are more of us, we are the people,” he says.

Read also:

• “Resistance movement liberates Kherson from traitors.” In the city captured by the Russians, one policeman died and another was wounded
• Resistance movement, Melitopol partisan war and partisan leaflets. How Ukrainians sabotage Russians