04/26/2026
The Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar military movement “Atesh” reported on a series
of sabotage operations in the Leningrad Region of the Russian Federation in March. At that time, communication towers with electronic warfare modules were destroyed in the areas of the cities of Kingisepp, Vyborg, and Luga.
The “hole” that formed in the region’s air defense system was taken advantage of by Ukrainian soldiers, who were able to hit the ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, causing billions in damage to the aggressor. Details were revealed in the Telegram channel “Atesh”.
What is known
Atesh announced the movement’s role in a series of strikes on two key Russian export ports on the Baltic Sea. They claim that they made the task of the Defense Forces soldiers somewhat easier by blinding Russian air defenses on the approaches to the Baltic seaport of Ust-Luga.
“In March, our agents carried out a series of sabotage operations in the Leningrad Region. Even before the strikes on oil terminals on the 20th of March — in coordination with the Defense Forces of Ukraine — the agents managed to destroy three communication towers with electronic warfare modules in the area of the settlements of Kingisepp, Vyborg, and Luga. These nodes provided monitoring of low-flying targets throughout the north-west of the Russian Federation,” the message states.
The destruction of the network of towers, the movement says, created a “blind spot” for the air defense system and opened an air corridor for Ukrainian drones.
“Without active electronic warfare, the drones flew at extremely low altitudes directly to the oil terminals. As a result, they hit the tank farms of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, which paralyzed about 40% of Russia’s oil exports through the Baltic. Billions of losses for the regime, fuel supplies to the Sever group were disrupted. While the occupiers were restoring communication between the posts, the Kremlin’s “currency vein” was cut. The restoration of the destroyed infrastructure will take months,” Atesh claims.
They added that they had talked about delayed operations to ensure the safety of the agents involved in the sabotage. They also promised: “Blow by blow, we will destroy Putin’s fascist system from within!”
As OBOZ.UA wrote, shortly after a series of devastating strikes on Russian ports in the Baltic, ISW analysts drew attention to the panic that arose in Russia due to Ukrainian strikes.
Regular Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure significantly overload the aggressor country’s air defenses and lead to problems in oil exports. Propagandists in Russia acknowledged problems in combating Ukrainian attacks in early April and complained about a shortage of interceptor missiles.
Moreover, Z-channels called on the Kremlin to adopt the experience of the Ukrainian military in creating and operating mobile fire groups.