Against the background of the reports about the terrifying mercenaries of the Russian "Wagner group", which is attacking Ukraine and fighting alongside the Russian army, a Ukrainian group fighting the Russians is also causing concern in the West, due to the fact that its members are not afraid to fight the Russian army - inside the territory of Russia, which may According to the West, to lead to an escalation in the war,
the Bratislava battalion (Ukrainian for brotherhood), which consists of volunteers from the Ukrainian special forces, spares no means in their fight against Russia, from the kidnapping of senior officials in the Kremlin to the destruction of military infrastructure and the interception of Russian planes on Russian soil.
Similar to the "Wagner group" and the Russian government, the fighters of the battalion, and their 39-year-old commander Oleksiy, know that if anything happens to them, the Ukrainian government will deny any connection to them.
Their status is also unusual: technically they do not belong to the Ukrainian army, but they operate alongside the official forces.
This status gives the government the possibility to deny their existence.
Oleksi, according to him, came from the Ukrainian intelligence corps, but the battalion mainly recruits civilians into its ranks or "steals" talented volunteers from other volunteer battalions.
The battalion's message is to show the world "how easy it is for us to cross the Russian border".
The battalion fighters (photo: screenshot, Twitter)
The battalion fighters (photo: screenshot, Twitter)
The battalion fighters (photo: screenshot, Twitter)
However, the West fears the possibility that Ukraine has the ability to harm the Russians inside Russia.
The reason for the fear is the Kremlin's threats to use nuclear weapons, if "Russia's existence is threatened."
Oleksy disagrees: "It turns out that the Russians can move to the territory of Ukraine, but the Ukrainians cannot enter Russia," he said in an interview with Gridan.
According to him, even this fear will not move the battalion from its mission - to make the leadership of the Russian army feel the war first hand on home territory.
The fighters tell about daring operations in enemy territory, such as the transfer of explosives into Russian territory.
"I don't know who and where the explosives were intended, but I know for sure that there are people in Russia who are willing to help the Ukrainians," said 23-year-old Taras.
He tells about another mission in which the fighters had to destroy a Russian helicopter in which there were senior officials from the Russian Interior Ministry.
"In the first attempt, stormy weather disrupted the operation. So they entered Russian territory and we had to turn back.
A group of five fighters walked a whole day to cross the border, according to Taras.
"We spent the night at the site, and in the morning we heard the helicopter. With the help of a small spy drone, we made sure it was the helicopter we had to shoot down.
We fired from a mobile anti-aircraft missile system at the helicopter from a distance of four kilometers.
We heard the explosion and fled." The mission, for him, was crowned a success once the fighters proved they could enter Russian territory and show the Russians that the Ukrainians can carry out special operations as well. "The Russians should then send soldiers to try and find the terrorists," he said. In addition, " Such an action hurts the enemy's morale because the helicopter was intended for senior officers.
The very fact that Ukrainians shoot Russian commanders causes tension among the Russians."
According to the fighters, one of their missions was to kidnap or kill senior officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
"He was staying close to the border with Ukraine. We obtained the route of his car and decided to set up an ambush."
The intended car did not arrive and the crew had to cross the border again back into Ukraine under the watchful eyes of Russian soldiers stationed at the border.
"We arrived at a border crossing with four Russian guards. We opened fire. We killed three of them and wounded the fourth. We took him with us into Ukraine and handed him over to the army," said 21-year-old Vladislav.
The battalion fighters (photo: screenshot, Twitter)
The battalion fighters (photo: screenshot, Twitter)
The battalion fighters (photo: screenshot, Twitter)
The soldiers of the battalion, most of them in their early twenties, laugh when asked if their parents know what they are doing.
"They know I'm at war," Vladislav said.
"Very few people know what we are doing. The enemy must not discover this. Therefore it is better that our parents do not know what we are really doing."
Despite the danger and Western criticism about the possibility that their actions will escalate the situation, the fighters are well aware of the importance of their role.
"The West may think that we intend to blow up the Kremlin, but this is not the case. We need to start small and then gradually move to more complex tasks. As a good friend of mine used to say: 'In order to destroy the enemy's military base, you must first blow up the dog kennel.'"
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