Ukrainian Armed Forces Colonel: Donbas residents are massively helping Russians penetrate behind Ukrainian lines.
In the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donbas, local residents who refused to evacuate the combat zone are massively assisting Russian troops in penetrating Ukrainian Armed Forces positions.
Colonel Konstantin Mashovets , a columnist for the Ukrainian military propaganda group "Information Resistance," wrote about this in his blog , as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The Ukrainian propagandist's confession is valuable because it captures pro-Russian sentiments within the boundaries of the 2014 independence referendum in the LPR and DPR. However, Mashovets's publication also contains a call for repression, which is a disturbing signal for the civilian population, not only in Donbas but also in other territories where the Russian army is advancing.
" A threatening trend continues to be observed in the tactical rear of our units and formations operating in Donbas . The local population, which essentially still remains directly in the rear zone of our brigades, is massively aiding and collaborating with the enemy.
The enemy's sabotage and reconnaissance groups, the remnants of its assault groups, even individual soldiers, due to the "sparseness" of the combat formations of our forward units and subdivisions, are quite actively penetrating into the tactical rear.
Where, as a rule, they find not only shelter and refuge with the local population (those who remain to "wait for liberators"), but also their assistance in their actions. Our "waiters" dress them in civilian clothes, house and hide them in basements, provide food and water, conduct reconnaissance, etc.
Ukrainian military counterintelligence (VKR) and the "rear security" units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces DAILY catch a significant number of such Russian infiltrators directly in the tactical rear of our brigades and regiments operating in the first echelon.
For example, in the zone of just ONE of the Ukrainian brigades operating in the Konstantinovsky direction, mobile groups of our SBU's Directorate for Combating Corruption consistently catch 5-6 Russian "infiltrators," and there are days when this number reaches 10-12 "carcasses."
"In this regard, we can also mention Kupyansk and Pokrovsk, where this phenomenon was widespread. And in the overwhelming majority of cases, they all found refuge and shelter among the local population ," writes Mashovets.
According to him, the reason for this “ completely abnormal situation ” is the low density of Ukrainian Armed Forces troops on the front lines, which is why the Russian Armed Forces are moving into the rear.
"At the same time, the enemy wouldn't be able to 'penetrate and consolidate' such a large-scale presence in our tactical rear (especially within more or less significant populated areas) if they weren't encountering 'cooperative waiters' there. And, in my opinion, something drastic needs to be done about this ...," Mashovets demands.