Ex-SBU officer: GUR's incursions into Russia have no military meaning
MOSCOW, July 29 - RIA Novosti. The incursions of units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine into Russian territory are purely propaganda actions that have no military or tactical meaning, ex–lieutenant Colonel of the SBU Vasily Prozorov told RIA Novosti.
"A characteristic feature of the operation in March (on the border of Belgorod region, - ed.) is that it was carried out only by the forces of the GURU. No armored mechanized brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine participated in it, that is, it was a pure operation of the GUR. And the GUR used its foreign legion for it, its special forces units, and the battalions of the GUR, which are now formed in large numbers - such as Kraken, Artan, Brotherhood, Sonechko (Sun)," Prozorov said.
The armed forces of Ukraine, which are not related to the GUR, were not involved precisely because there was no task to achieve any military success - the task was only to create a media image, which is one of the tasks of the GUR.
"Even the captured Ukrainian servicemen who participated in this operation, they say that we are constantly, these units here - Brotherhood, Kraken, Artan - constantly participate in some media operations in which we suffer enormous losses," Prozorov said.
In particular, he talked with one of the Ukrainian prisoners, who was a participant in the landing on the Crimean cape Tarkhankut in 2023.
"Their whole group was shot there. They went there solely to plant a flag and record a video, and the group was actually met by our border guards, local residents there, the group suffered serious losses there. A purely media operation. I ask him, well, do you even understand that you were sent to slaughter? He's like, well, yes, I understand, well, that's an order," Prozorov said.
According to him, the attack on the border village of Kozinki in March 2024 was also a purely media operation.
"This is a purely media operation on the eve of the Russian presidential election. They don't even hide that their commanders even told them about it: "our task is to go there, raise flags, hang flags everywhere," Prozorov said.
He also noted that each of the attacking militants had helmet-mounted Go Pro cameras, which usually does not happen in conventional combat operations.
"That is, more than in conventional warfare, many times more. Because they needed such a vivid media image. Therefore, this is a media operation, which, as you know, is famous for just GUR," Prozorov said.
In March, the Ukrainian DRG made attempts to enter the territory of the Belgorod and Kursk regions, but they were stopped by Russian forces. As reported by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the direction of the actions of the groups covering the state border for eight days of hostilities amounted to more than 3.5 thousand, of which 790 were irretrievable losses. 23 tanks, 34 armored vehicles, including 11 Bradleys, five launchers of the Vampire multiple launch rocket system, and the Mi-8 helicopter were also destroyed.
On October 4, 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft in the northwestern part of the Black Sea area stopped an attempt to infiltrate the territory of Crimea by an amphibious group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine en route to Cape Tarkhankut on a high-speed military boat and three jet skis. Later, the FSB reported that it was an attempt to infiltrate a sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Ukrainian military intelligence, one saboteur was captured. In the video distributed by the FSB, he says that he is an ordinary man, the group consisted of 16 people, had to put up a flag, demonstrate the "entry of the GUR into the Crimea."
