Russian Troops ‘Disappearing En Masse’ in Kherson: Resistance Group

A Ukrainian partisan movement operating in the occupied south of the country has reported mass desertions by Russian forces there, with Moscow’s troops refusing to carry out combat missions.

The Atesh—meaning “fire” in Crimean Tartar—movement has been operating in the southern Kherson region during Russia’s full-scale invasion; it began in February 2022 and saw much of the southern portion of the country quickly occupied.

Atesh gathers information on local Russian operations for Ukrainian intelligence and military forces while organizing local resistance. The group has also claimed the killing of multiple Russian and local allied troops.

Atesh wrote on its Telegram channel on Thursday: “Russian soldiers are disappearing en masse in the Kherson region.”

Newsweek cannot independently verify the report and has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment.

“According to official reports received by the Russian Armed Forces group ‘Dnepr’, we learned that the orcs refuse to carry out combat missions and willfully leave their places of temporary deployment,” the group wrote, using a pejorative, ‘orcs,’ commonly used by Ukrainians to refer to Russian soldiers.

“It is noteworthy that some of those who were officially identified on the papers as SOCH…were later found in the occupied territory of the Kherson region,” the post added, referring to the Russian acronym used for deserters, similar to the Anglophone “AWOL.”

“Our agents also note the arrival of a large number of personnel of the occupation army in Novooleksiivka,” Atesh wrote. This refers to a rural settlement in southern Kherson, close to the Isthmus of Perekop that separates the Crimean Peninsula from the mainland.

The group added: “These soldiers are located in vacant abandoned houses. Most of them have multiple tattoos on their body. The local population believes that these are people who were previously in prison.”

Atesh reported that the Russian military is also intensifying efforts to catch Ukrainian partisans providing information to military forces on Kyiv’s side of the contact line, which, for more than a year, has been largely demarcated by the Dnieper River—known as the Dnipro in Ukrainian.

“The Russian Guard were instructed to catch Ukrainian partisans who are transmitting information about the locations of the Russian occupation forces’ personnel,” Atesh wrote. “If you know where the Russian occupation army is stationing personnel, please let us know. Together, we will drive the Russian horde out of Ukraine.”

The southern Kherson region has seen little movement of the front since Ukraine’s major victory there in the fall of 2022. Then, Kyiv’s troops drove southwards to liberate the city of Kherson and all territory on the west bank of the Dnieper.

The waterway has since formed a formidable barrier to further offensives, especially after it was swollen by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in June 2023.

Still, Ukrainian units have managed to establish small but persistent bridgeheads on the Russian-held east bank over the past year. Russia’s troops have proved unable to dislodge Kyiv’s footholds, which could one day assist a drive towards Crimea.