Meeting Russia's Anti-Putin Partisans (with Jake Hanrahan)

Jake Hanrahan hikes through a forest in Eastern Europe to meet with anarchist Partisans attacking trains in Putin's Russia.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is it could happen here. My name is Jake Hanrahan.
I'm a journalist and documentary filmmaker. Today you're gonna hear
me reporting from an undisclosed location in Europe where I
met with anti Putin Russian partisans. So right now heading
into the forest somewhere on the edge of Europe. There's

(00:24):
snow absolutely everywhere, it's pitch black and it's very, very cold.
I'm heading into the forest to meet with anti government
Russian partisans. They've been launching attacks inside Russia against Kremlin infrastructure.
They've been blowing up railway tracks and attacking military recruitment
centers because they want to disrupt the continued Russian invasion

(00:46):
of Ukraine. These partisan attacks have been taking place all
across Russia, but obviously over there there's a complete media
blackout on this situation. So this group of comeover um
and agreed to meet with me to tell me what's
actually happening and to let people know that it's not
everybody there that supports this, and some people are even
taking up arms, taking massive risks to try and stop popultining.

(01:09):
Is up to when Russia invaded Ukraine on February the
Ukrainian people bravely mobilized to fight back against Putin's attack
on their country. Russia's so called Three Days Special Operation
has turned into a grueling, year long battle whether Ukrainian
resistance has been highly effective. Despite this chaos, it seems

(01:33):
that many people in Russia have come out in favor
of this brutal war. Even now, with over forty people
killed and over fourteen million displaced, there's still large scales
support for Putin's attacks on Ukraine. This much is fact.
The idea that every Russian is in favor of the
war is not. Russia is a huge place, with the

(01:55):
population of over one hundred and forty million. Many people
there do not support Pootin or his war. Some have
even taken the risk to fight back. As I mentioned,
there's a quiet but highly effective network of anti Poutin
partisans that are fighting from within. They're doing this by

(02:16):
blowing up military railways, sabotaging Kremlin cell towers, and burning
down war recruitment centers, all this in an effort to
help Ukrainians from Afar. If caught by the Russian security forces,
they face torture and life in prison. Despite the risks
in the last twelve months, there have been more than
eighty confirmed attacks against the government inside at Russia. The

(02:39):
attacks have taken place all across the country as well,
from Moscow in the west to Vladivostok in the far east.
There are dozens of different Partisans cells and lone wolves.
As is with real life, the Partisans have varying different
political ideologies from far left to far right. For the moment, though,

(02:59):
they all share in information with each other, recognizing their
common enemy in Putin. One of the most organized groups
is made up of militant anarchists then known as the
Anaco Communist Combat Organization, more commonly referred to by their
Russian abbreviation BOAK. It's two fighters from BOAK who had

(03:20):
arranged to meet in a Russia bordering forest of eastern Europe.
We've spoken weeks before via encrypted email. They told me
which country to fly to and then send me coordinates
of where to meet them within a specific window of time.
A driver as far as I could, abandon the car
and took off into the forest. Eventually, a red torchlight

(03:40):
emerged through the trees, cutting the silhouette of two figures.
Because the two approached, it was clear it was the
Boak fighters. They were both dressed head to toe in black,
and we're both wearing balaclavas. We confirmed things, shook hands
and set off to find a spot for the interview.
They let me through an underground tunnel to an air
they felt comfortable with. Sounds like to protect the identity

(04:06):
of the Russian Partisans, we've scrambled their voice. That voice
you just heard that, Oh yeah, she's a female, and
the other fire said the voice you'll hear, that's Jura,
he's a male. Can you explain the actions like one
are the main things you've been doing to disrupt Prutin's invasion?
The assembled railways, which leads to their actilutely warehouse in

(04:27):
the most cool region. Do it surpli fronto give to
the Krainian people more time to prepare for the The
railing trains in Russia is something the Partisans specialize in.
They've managed to not several Kremlin cargo trains off their tracks,
trains that were destined to the level weapons to Russian

(04:48):
soldiers as they continued to invade Ukraine. We'll probably never
know how helpful this was for Ukrainians, but every second
counts when battling for frontline positions in war. For example,
if Russian soldiers were left waiting for a resupply which
was delayed because of partisan attacks, they might then be
overrun by Ukrainians. This would definitely be an effective blow

(05:13):
for the partisans. I asked the Barack fights is why
they felt the need to form such an organization. We
see that we need to create a partisan organization because
in the Russia, the state depression is very hard. So
you can use some uh legal methods to do some
step by step changes. Even if you do some so

(05:34):
called legal actions, anyway you'll go to the jail. We
are attacking the state to make it weaker, to show
people that we can do it. We as people, people
of Russia, people of all our worlds. We have this
power in our hands. And yeah them stay they are
small and to be are. There's a lot of us.

(05:54):
And the second direction which we are developed since is
a coordination of such kind of attacks tacks all over
the Russia. But recently we published I think maybe even
more than them, attacks from many different religions. We held
small partisan cells to find out how to make attacks,
help them with supplies. Groups such as small parson groups.

(06:17):
It's increasing, it's increase here and they making more and
more serious attacks. For example, not a long time and
gone they bombed some kind of road near the Ukrainian border.
So I hope is not in that one small group
can do, but that we have a lot of small
groups and auto girls that we can change things. So

(06:38):
you guys been around before the UK more started, or
at least since the invasion started this year, but that's
when you've got a lot more known. I think online
we've seen that you guys actually doing attacks inside Russia
and in Belarus, very dangerous thing to do. Um, what
is it that you know spurred you guys on why
you're doing this? Why you're taking such a risk to
basically attack who in in his own country because it's

(07:01):
not his country, it's our country. We can't do nothing.
We can do legal things. And these parts attacks can
make military imagine of Russian state. We got the supply lines,
we attack the military coupment centers, so the army becomes

(07:21):
a can and as it was very often in the
Russia and many others states history on the state loose war,
there is all the window of possibilities opens for the
people of this country. What was Boak a dragmatic focused

(07:47):
currently on the pressing issue of Putin's or on Ukraine.
They're also looking to cover out a space for themselves
in what they believe will be a wild post putin Russia.
When Putin dies, there will be a vacuum where many
other groups feel the same Boack in their minds, setting
down foundations already for now though they concentrate on assist

(08:09):
in the Ukrainians and in terms of like solidarity with Ukraine,
are you doing this out the Ukrainians as well or
just for yourselves? Like are you in contact with Ukrainians
or is this just like a movement you guys doing yourself?
Of course we have contacts. We can of course, uh
say what exactly context? Yes, but yes we have context
mos uh different not only in his organization, in all

(08:34):
EXPERU and other countries as well. We try to provide
information for those other groups which don't yet know how
to do things and don't yet have funds enough for
supplies because even gasoline cost money and they don't have money.

(08:56):
And as well, near the start of war, our organized
a few attacks like on the mobile cell towers you know,
Ukraine border, as we've seen from the telegram channels, the
kind of underground. There's definitely a lot of attacks. As
you've said, as you've been doing, how big is your
organization because it's hard to tell how how prevalent are

(09:16):
these attacks inside Russia? Is well, three dozens finished groups,
Everyone has a different time, number of members. And what
about geography as you know of the ms X from
the CAD to the what do your talk which is

(09:38):
East Russia? Yeah, specifically being anarchist, but being partisans is
extremely extremely dangerous inside Russia. You're taking a massive risk
doing this kind of stuff. Um, some people are going
to see this and go like, why why would you
take that risk? If we won't take those risks now,
we won't have future at all. And you're not worried,
you're not scared of getting caught, but it's much more

(10:02):
scared to leave know that you had chanced to change
something and you didn't. Our people killing people of Ukraine
and making a volt wars and wars so with every
day with angels of nuclear war and so on, because
if we do it now, maybe we will not have
the future at all, not only in Rush, but all
over the world. People on the internet. They'll see what

(10:22):
you guys are doing and they say, are you guys
a CIA oppertures and stuff like this. UM, particularly like
Western is actually support Puttin. Now you know what it's
like living there under putin? UM? You know, how would
you address that? What would you say to always kind
of actusizes? I think if we would be saying we

(10:44):
would act more effectively. But we acted with those forces,
with those sources which we have, we're trying to increase land.
But lem said that it's time. It's protest from zero
partisan attacks to the full personal ward. So if we
were were c we had A well, we would have

(11:06):
a lot of more resources somehow. Yeah, we like we
have homemade boombs or anything we can get our hands on.
Or even speaking about the sources which we used when
we uh the sample trailways, we used simple instruments which

(11:28):
we could be bought in. We are showing people that
they can just go to the store and buy those
tools and do that themselves. It's not just you know,
us doing some stuff with some specific materials you can
only get in the darknet. Now, let's be honest, it's

(11:51):
likely the c i A are up to something in
Russia considering their past history. But personally I believe back
when they say nothing to do with that. I think
it would be pretty unlikely that the CIA would help
an anaco communist group when there are ultra nationalist groups
doing similar things. How do you get the information? Like

(12:12):
how do you know which railway to blow up? We
used to wiki market for each object on the map
and every count everyone can contribute to eat. So he
just opened it and you find, okay, minute objects here.
It's doing something like that that, it's it's photos and
people who did they didn't do it for us, just

(12:33):
because information and you just gonna take it and do it.
So they use wiki mapia to help their attacks. This
I found quite funny. It's like the modern version of
guerrillas gathering intel from locals about the enemy, only the
locals in this case don't even know they're doing it.
Scouting is also a big part of their sabotage preparations.

(12:55):
But but of course, so we need to a lot
of scouting. Yeah, scouting, like you you check out the
pot of I know the anarchists specifically in Russia have
been tortured quite a lot. If they're captured for anything um,
what do you think would happen to you? Guys? If
you got caught? For sure, we're going to be touched
as well. If you will be if you'll live enough

(13:19):
because we not link to yeah, we don't give any
information on our comrades, and when you're touched, it's hard
to say when we would or would not your break.
So it's good to prevent this by dying fighting. Does

(13:40):
that mean your firearms? If you want to do a revolution,
you can do the forarms. Like why why are you
doing this? Why are you giving us? Why do you
want this this information to get out there? We think
that it's important that people see us not as some
internet warriors. We want people to hear our voices, to
hear what we can have to say. People to think

(14:03):
that we are some shade the organization, but we want
them to see that we are real people just like them,
and just like us. They can do things that we do.
A lot of it is online, but there's there's definitely
a perception that all Russians agree with the invasion, the
destruction of Ukraine what Putin wants to do. Obviously, people

(14:26):
like you very clearly. You know, a small but effective
resistance against Putin's policies. What do you think about that?
How would you respond to that? Is? Is it in
the country and more people against it than it would
seem or what? There are a lot more people against
the then it seems because propaganda shows only people who
agree with Puto and many many people don't agree, and

(14:50):
many people just just silent because they're afraid to use
their jobs. If you will beat dog every day, then
some it will think that you I live like that,
it's normal. So as we see a lot of people
are also victims of the Puts regime at the moment.

(15:11):
They just don't think that if they stick up they
will change anything. I think our main message is that
people shouldn't just sit and wait that someone else is
going to do anything for them. They should take their
lives in their own hands. As we often repeat, if
not to be even if you're not known that one,

(15:32):
thank you very much if you like and everything, it's
a very good with that. The two partisans from Boak
vanished into the forest. Is Russia's war on Ukraine approaches
a twelve month Russian partisans like the ones I spoke
to continuing to disrupt Putin's war effort from within. Organizations
like Boak are fighting and uphill battle, but still their

(15:55):
attacks have definitely been effective. As we said, several military
tris have been derailed and word of the partisan underground
is spreading. Whilst there's next to no Russian state media
coverage on this, the Russian government is clearly aware of it.
Security around Russian train tracks has been tightened, and the

(16:15):
Russian court has find the telegram app for allowing partisan
networks to share information. There not to mention the uptick
in unexplained fires breaking out across the country. Even though
Pune's government acts like they can't see them, they know
the partisans there. If you want to watch the extended
documentary version of this reporting, go to YouTube dot com

(16:39):
slash popular Front and look for the documentary Russia's Anti
Putin Underground. Music in this episode of It Could Happen
Here was by Sam Black seas music at Sam Black
pf dot com. Reporting production editing was by me. You
can follow me at Jake under score handrahan h a

(17:02):
n I A h A N. Please do check out
my platform, independent grassroots conflict reporting www. Dot popular Front
dot c o