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2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Map of the situation of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Russian-occupied territories in red. Partisan resistance is most prominent in Ukraine's southern occupied lands.


During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia occupied vast portions of the territory of Ukraine. Some territories, more precisely parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts as well as the entire Autonomous Republic of Crimea, were already under Russian occupation since 2014. Partisan groups began to be organized in the summer of 2021.[1] After the start of the invasion, these individuals became active in those territories occupied by Russia, which included cities like Kherson and Melitopol.

Resistance movement[]

On 20 March, two unknown assailants shot and killed the assistant to Volodymyr Saldo, Vladimir Slobodchikov, in his car just outside Saldo’s house in Kherson.[2]

On 20 April, pro-Russian blogger Valery Kuleshov was shot and killed while in his car in Kherson.[3]

On 21 April, on a television interview, the mayor of Russian-occupied Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said that, according to Ukrainian intelligence, Ukrainian partisans had killed 100 Russian soldiers in the city, primarily Russian police patrols and mostly through ambushes at night. Feodorov also claimed that the Russian army was struggling with dealing with these partisans as the majority of the population of Melitopol was against Russian presence.[4]

On 26 April, the Governor of Mykolaiv Oblast, Vitaliy Kim, said that there had been a resistance against the Russian army in the Kherson Oblast for two months and that Ukrainian partisans had killed 80 Russian troops in the region.[5]

On 28 April, 24 Kanal reported that partisans in occupied Nova Kakhovka had left a banner with a message on a pole in the city. It said as follows: "Russian occupier! Know! Kakhovka is Ukraine! We are close! Our people are already working here! Death awaits you! Kakhovka is Ukraine!".[6]

On 30 April, members of the so-called Berdiansk Partisan Army (BPA) posted a video on Telegram calling for Russian troops to leave Berdiansk. They announced that they were organizing their forces and that they were "ready to come out of the shadows". The account of this organization was used during the invasion for gathering and showing evidence of Russian crimes in the city and information about collaborators with the Russian army in Berdiansk.[7]

On 13 May, Oleksii Reznikov, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, spoke of the defeats and difficulties that Russian troops had been experiencing in Ukraine ever since the start of the invasion. Reznikov also spoke of the partisans in Kherson, Melitopol and other localities, calling them "an important contribution to common victory".[8]

On 22 May, in occupied Enerhodar, Ukrainian partisans detonated an explosive in front of a residential building where the Russian-appointed mayor of the city Andrei Shevchik was located. Shevchik and his bodyguards sustained injuries of varying severity, and Shevchik ended up in intensive care. He was first taken to a hospital in Enerhodar and then to another in Melitopol.[9]

In late May, six Russian border guards at the Zernovo border checkpoint in northern Ukraine were reportedly killed on the week of 30 May–5 June when they were attacked by Ukrainian partisans. Two days later, a bomb exploded near the office of Yevhen Balytskyi, a pro-Russian official and de facto mayor of Melitopol.[1]

On 18 June, an explosive device went off in the car of Yevgeny Sobolev, the head of the Kherson Region penal service. He survived the blast and was taken to a hospital according to TASS.[10]

On 20 June, three Russian soldiers were at a waterfront cafe in Kherson when a shooter opened fire at them. Two of the soldiers were killed, while the surviving soldier was hospitalised, according to Ukrainian Southern Command.[11]

On 24 June, in occupied Kherson, a Russian appointed official, Dmitry Savluchenko, was killed by a car bomb, reportedly placed by Ukrainian partisans.[12]

On 7 July police officer Serhii Tomko who had defected to the Russian side was shot and killed in his vehicle in Nova Kakhovka.[13]

On 11 July, Yevgeny Yunakov, the Russian-appointed administrator of Velykyi Burluk was killed by a car bomb according to TASS.[14]

On 24 July, partisans in Melitopol attacked Rail infrastructure during the night, causing moderate damage to a section of railway. Explosions were reportedly heard near the Melitopol Airfield and near the village of Kostyantynivka, according to the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov.[15]

On 26 July, Euromaidan Press reported that the Satelit factory in Mariupol had been attacked by partisans and "has been burning for 10 days".[16]

On 27 July, in occupied Kherson an improvised explosive blew up a car with two defecting police officers inside of it, both were severely injured and one later died from his wounds.[17]

On 29 July, partisans in Luhansk Oblast burned a distribution box controlling the railway traffic lights, junctions and crossings near Svatove during the night, according to the head of the Luhansk Regional Military-Civil Administration, Serhiy Haidai.[18] Also on 29 July, Petro Andriushchenko, the Advisor to the Mayor of Mariupol, reported that partisans had set grain fields near the city on fire so that Russian forces would not be able to steal and export the grain.[19]

See also[]

  • 2022 protests in Russian-occupied Ukraine
  • Derussification in Ukraine

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Peter Beaumont and Isabel Koshiw, "'The occupier should never feel safe’: rise in partisan attacks in Ukraine", The Guardian, 6 June 2022 (last accessed 7 June 2022)
  2. "Ukraine investigates, attacks those who collaborate with Russia". https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/11/what-awaits-turncoat-ukrainian-officials. 
  3. "В Херсоне убили пророссийского блогера Валерия Кулешова" (in ru). https://www.ukrinform.ru/rubric-regions/3462511-v-hersone-ubili-prorossijskogo-blogera-valeria-kulesova-deputat.html. 
  4. Korshak, Stefan (22 April 2022). "Mayor claims partisans killed more than 100 Russian soldiers in occupied Melitopol". https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/mayor-claims-partisans-killed-more-than-100-russian-soldiers-in-occupied-melitopol.html. 
  5. Kovalchuk, Irina (26 April 2022). "В Херсонской области партизаны уничтожили десятки оккупантов – Ким" (in ru). https://www.segodnya.ua/strana/podrobnosti/v-hersonskoy-oblasti-partizany-unichtozhili-desyatki-okkupantov-kim-1617443.html. 
  6. Hema, Mykhaylo (28 April 2022). ""Бо Каховка – це Україна": партизани залишили окупантам послання" (in uk). 24 Kanal. https://24tv.ua/bo-kahovka-tse-ukrayina-partizani-zalishili-okupantam-poslannya_n1965187. 
  7. Polishchuk, Mykola (30 April 2022). "Бердянські партизани озвучили свої вимоги до окупантів та колаборантів" (in uk). https://glavcom.ua/news/berdyanski-partizani-ozvuchili-svoji-vimogi-do-okupantiv-ta-kolaborantiv--842104.html. 
  8. Kucheryavets, Maria (13 May 2022). ""Світ отримав шанс перемогти диктатуру". Резніков розповів про подвійну поразку РФ" (in uk). RBK Group. https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/mir-poluchil-shans-pobedit-diktaturu-reznikov-1652435277.html. 
  9. Semenova, Inna (23 May 2022). ""Самоліквідація" мостів і окупантів. У захоплених містах України розгортається рух опору: що відомо про його наймасштабніші прояви" (in uk). NV. https://nv.ua/ukr/ukraine/events/partizanskiy-ruh-v-ukrajini-2022-naymasshtabnishi-diversiji-proti-rosiyskoji-armiji-50244463.html. 
  10. "Kherson Region’s head of penal service comes under attack". https://tass.com/emergencies/1467977. 
  11. "2 Russian soldiers shot dead, 1 injured in occupied Kherson". https://kyivindependent.com/uncategorized/2-russian-soldiers-shot-dead-1-injured-in-occupied-kherson. 
  12. "Russian-installed Kherson official killed in bomb blast". 24 June 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-installed-kherson-official-killed-bomb-blast-2022-06-24/. 
  13. "A traitor policeman shot in occupied Nova Kakhovka" (in en). https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/07/8/7357086/. 
  14. "Leader of Russian-occupied Ukrainian town killed by car bomb". https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/leader-russian-occupied-ukrainian-town-killed-by-car-bomb-tass-2022-07-11/. 
  15. "In Melitopol, partisans blew up railway tracks". https://ukrainetoday.org/2022/07/24/in-melitopol-partisans-blew-up-railway-tracks/. 
  16. "In Mariupol, the factory Satelit, which was set on fire by partisans, has been burning for more than 10 days.". https://mobile.twitter.com/EuromaidanPR/status/1551749147321049088. 
  17. "A car with two collaborators was blown up in Kherson". https://news.yahoo.com/car-two-collaborators-blown-kherson-131400152.html. 
  18. "Luhansk partisans complicate enemy ammunition supplies by rail". https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3540350-luhansk-partisans-complicate-enemy-ammunition-supplies-by-rail.html. 
  19. "Ukrainian partisans in Mariupol have set grain fields on fire to prevent Russian theft -advisor to the mayor". https://news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-partisans-mariupol-set-grain-160200018.html. 


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