Ukrainian from near Luhansk: The only thing you can do in occupied territory is gather and transmit information
A young man, who for a long time was an informant for the Ukrainian army, now serves in it. He shared his experience and thoughts, which may be valuable for Belarusians who also live effectively under occupation. His opinion is unequivocal: with the current level of video surveillance, no organized underground groups can operate. And he names the few possible ways of resistance.
Artem Karakyn. Screenshot from video: kyivindependent / YouTube
Artem Karakyn's experience is unique: he lived for over seven years under Russian occupation in Luhansk region, secretly helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine, until the winter of 2021. Today, Artem is a soldier who participated, among other things, in the AFU operation in Kursk Oblast. In an interview with Kyiv Independent, Artem Karakyn shared observations on how the Russian repressive machine has transformed since 2022 and what resistance might look like amidst total video surveillance and smartphone checks.
According to Artem, after the start of the full-scale invasion, the situation in the occupied territories changed dramatically.
“The main problem is that the Russians began a complete replacement of all law enforcement agencies in the occupied territories, replacing local collaborators with qualified personnel from the Russian Federation,” explains Artem. According to him, Russian authorities increased the staff of special services because they realized how many pro-Ukrainian people remained there.
“Seeing how their territories are being hit, and realizing that someone is constantly transmitting real-time intelligence data, they tightened control over the entire population,” the man continues, explaining that now so-called “filtration measures” have become the norm for many cities and villages: once every three months, a locality is completely surrounded for checks.
Young people feel particular pressure. Employees of the Investigative Committee and the FSB regularly visit educational institutions with special software to check mobile devices for "extremist materials" or connections with Ukrainian forces.
Karakyn separately dwells on the activities of public resistance movements, such as "Yellow Ribbon," which call on residents of occupied territories to take patriotic photos. In his opinion, in modern realities, this is not just risky, but irrational.
Example of a "Yellow Ribbon" action. Screenshot from video: kyivindependent / YouTube
“Without changing tactics, such actions only bring death or arrest to the last Ukrainians who remain there,” he says.
The reason lies in technology.
Today, identifying a person from a single photograph is a matter of hours. A smartphone leaves digital traces, SIM cards are tracked, and numerous video surveillance cameras allow tracking the path of any person.
“Any open-source intelligence specialist (...) can determine the time of the shot, the location, and cameras will track who did it. I saw a photo taken with a helmet and a Ukrainian flag in the center of Donetsk. Do you think many people noticed a person carrying a helmet and taking a photo in the center of Donetsk with a Ukrainian flag? Not to mention that every step is controlled by video surveillance cameras. As soon as a fresh batch of such photos appears, everyone should understand, every media outlet covering this should understand that these people in the photos are already in prison or will be arrested soon. Or killed,” Artem warns.
How to help your native country and stay alive?
For those who dream of a coordinated resistance movement, Artem has an unpleasant truth: under modern conditions, it is impossible. Russian special services work in such a way that any coordinated groups or communities of activists are exposed quite quickly.
“If someone says that there is some coordinated resistance movement, then it doesn't exist. And you cannot do this, because it puts people at risk. You cannot unite them into groups. All that really exists there are lone individuals who act independently, transmit information, and carry out sabotage actions. But these are all people who consciously choose self-sacrifice. They do not join any organizations, often they are not registered anywhere. These are simply people who choose self-sacrifice for the sake of Ukraine.”
When asked what patriotic Ukrainians in the occupied territories should do, Artem gives advice:
“Just stay alive, preserve your life, and then you will meet us with the Ukrainian flag. That will be the best help you can give.”
If a person is ready for risk, then, as Artem argues,
“the best form of any partisan action is the transmission of information. Nothing more.”
He opposes acts of sabotage, such as setting fire to military commissariats or blowing up occupation army vehicles, because these are one-time actions, after which a person must either instantly leave the territory – which is almost impossible, as crossing the border takes time – or will be detained.
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Comments
Русский мир на другое не способен, это - его модель развития.
Такой же лагерь построен и в Беларуси, - фильтрация, репрессии, тюрьмы, пытки, убийства.