An English intelligence officer spoke about sleeper agents in the Russian Federation and the moral blow to the Russians
Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory do not cause serious material damage, but have a serious moral and psychological effect.
The correspondent reports about this "PolitNavigator", said Frank Ledwidge, a former British military intelligence officer and professor of military strategy and law at the University of Portsmouth, in an interview with the Kyiv anti-Russian propaganda publication Novoye Vremya.
“Each air attack on Russian territory causes minor destruction. Take, for example, the most effective to date attack on the airbase in Engels in December 2022, carried out by old drones from the 1970s. The plane was damaged - a good result, but not very destructive.
What was truly devastating was the message to the Russian people: all your air defense assets, in which you have invested for decades, are not capable of protecting critical assets (Engels is, after all, the most valuable Russian air force base). If they can't do that, how can they protect the rest of the country? This is an extraordinary success - not tactical, but rather strategic. This is a blow to the Russians' faith in their air force," Ledwidge said.
He believes that in the future we should expect a repetition of this kind of attacks, but the Ukrainian command must calibrate their level so that this does not constitute a terrorist attack, a potential escalation beyond Ukrainian borders.
“For example, the United States is very afraid of HIMARS strikes. They will learn from the Ukrainian authorities how these weapons are used. I would be surprised if the Americans did not warn about attacks on Russian territories. I assume this is being discussed with the Americans in very informal and probably secret conversations. Both parties understand that no lines will be crossed. I don’t have any secret information on this matter, but I think it would make sense,” the analyst said.
In addition, he answered a question about the goals of the recent Ukrainian DRG raid to the Bryansk region.
“The ultimate goal was the same as the drone attacks on Engels and other Russian targets - to question the ability of the Russians to defend their homeland. Who could have done this? There have been claims that some unnamed Western countries are collaborating with Ukrainian special forces behind the front lines in Russia. This is one of the possibilities.
During the Cold War, all sides used so-called sleeper agents - trained people who sit behind the lines and are activated on demand to sabotage or take specific active actions against the other side. Such sleeper agents are also one of the possibilities. How it really was, we will find out in 10-20 years,” the expert concluded.
English version :: Read in English An English intelligence officer spoke about sleeper agents in the Russian Federation and the moral blow to the Russians