Atesh (; Russian and ) is a military partisan movement in the occupied territories of Ukraine, as well as in the territory of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, created by

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

and

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

in September 2022 as a result of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

History

The movement was founded at the end of September 2022. On September 26, the oath of the soldier "Atesh" was published on the official Telegram channel, and on September 29, a video appeal of one of the partisans was made public with an appeal to join the movement.

Selection of activities

November 11, 2022: Partisans of the movement killed 30 Russian servicemen in hospitals in

Simferopol Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...

. December 11, 2022: "Atesh" took responsibility for setting fire to barracks with Russian soldiers in the village Sovietske. January 31, 2023: Partisans claim they killed two Russian National Guard officers. February 10, 2023: "Atesh" claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack that resulted in the deaths of two Russian soldiers and the hospitalisation of two others in occupied

Nova Kakhovka Nova Kakhovka (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kakhovka Raion, Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine. Nova Kakhovka has been under Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast, Russian occupation since February 2022. Its estimated population ...

. March 14, 2023: Atesh claimed to have killed the deputy head of the military administration of Nova Kakhovka in a bomb attack. April 23, 2023: Atesh claim to have blown up a Russian National Guard checkpoint near

Oleshky Oleshky (, ), previously known as Tsiurupynsk from 1928 to 2016, is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kherson Raion, Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine, located on the left bank of the Dnieper River with the town of Solontsi, Kherson Raion, So ...

resulting in multiple deaths. April 27, 2023: Partisans claim they killed two Russian soldiers in the village of Velyki Kopani. May 6, 2023: Partisans claimed responsibility for an assassination attempt of

Zakhar Prilepin Yevgeny Nikolayevich Prilepin (; born 7 July 1975), writing as Zakhar Prilepin (), and sometimes using another pseudonym, Yevgeny Lavlinsky (), is a Russian writer, politician and paramilitary leader. He was a member of Russia's National Bolsh ...

, a Russian writer and member of the

A Just Russia — For Truth A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

Party, in which a car bomb exploded as he crossed the Russian border from occupied Donbas. The car's driver was killed and Prilepin was seriously wounded, but survived. July 14, 2023: Partisans claimed responsibility for an ambush in Kherson that destroyed two Russian military trucks and killed 6 Russian military personnel. July 17, 2023: ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' interviewed

Mustafa Dzhemilev Mustafa Abduldzhemil Jemilev (, ), also known widely with his adopted descriptive surname Qırımoğlu "Son of Crimea" ( Crimean Tatar Cyrillic: , ; born 13 November 1943, Ay Serez, Crimea), is the former chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean T ...

in Kyiv about Atesh. He reported that Atesh maintains an online class for Russian draftees to carry out acts of sabotage claiming that 4,000 Russian troops have enrolled. He also claims that upwards of 1,000 Tatars would be willing to take up arms against Russian forces in Crimea, if they were just given the arms to do so. Dzemilev also stated that he hopes that after the liberation of Crimea there will be an amendment to the

Constitution of Ukraine The Constitution of Ukraine (, ) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament of Ukraine, on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes o ...

to turn Crimea into an autonomous "National Republic" with the Tatars as its indigenous people with special status. August 30, 2023: Atesh claimed responsibility for bombing a

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

campaign office in

killing three Russian guards, and destroyed documents supporting the upcoming September 2023 regional elections. September 25, 2023: Atesh claimed that they provided information used to plan Operation Crab Trap. They reportedly gained leaked information about the Black Sea Fleet by bribing Russian officers disgruntled by missed salary payments. May 25, 2024: Atesh claimed responsibility for a sabotage attack near

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...

. According to Atesh, an agent destroyed equipment at a substation. June 12, 2024: An Atesh video confirmed destruction of an R-441 Liven satellite communication station in the

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

region. July 5, 2024: Agents of Atesh managed to carry out a successful operation on the Trans-Siberian Railway near

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

, resulting in the destruction of the railway track along which North Korean ammunition was being transported. February 15, 2025: Atesh fighters sabotaged a Russian RP-377LA electronic warfare vehicle by pouring sugar into its fuel tank. April 24, 2025: Believed to be Atesh operatives firebombed a Russian

Su-30 The Sukhoi Su-30 (; NATO reporting name: Flanker-C/G/H) is a twin-engine, two-seat supermaneuverable fighter aircraft developed in the Soviet Union in the 1980s by Russia's Sukhoi Aviation Corporation. It is a multirole fighter for all-weath ...

SM at the

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

airfield with tail number 35. May 8, 2025: the Ukrainian partisan group Atesh claimed responsibility for a sabotage attack near Moscow, disrupting communications of several Russian military units. According to Atesh, an agent destroyed equipment at a substation in Mogiltsy. June 1, 2025: Atesh fighters undertook a sabotage operation on a railway in

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

, during

Operation Spider's Web Operation Spider's Web () was a Covert operation, covert drone attack carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) deep inside Russia on 1 June 2025, during the Russo-Ukrainian War. The coordinated strikes targeted the Russian Air Fo ...

on the same day.

References

External links

{{Russian invasion of Ukraine, state=autocollapse Guerrilla organizations Military units and formations of Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Organizations established in 2022 Russian occupation of Ukraine Social movements Ukrainian resistance during the Russian invasion of Ukraine

History

Selection of activities

See also

References

External links