Role of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence in repelling Russia's armed aggression

This is reported by Defense Express.

With triumphs like putting vital military and energy targets deep within Russian territory on fire, the Main Intelligence Directorate currently holds an outstanding history of victories over the aggressor. It has also achieved a great deal of covert triumphs, which we won't learn about until the conflict is ended, both close to and thousands of kilometers from the contact line.

A straightforward comparison of these operations' expenses and advantages over trench warfare demonstrates how Ukraine's winning approach has successfully changed.

Defense Express journalists mentioned some successful HUR operations in their article

The beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion: battle for Kyiv region, helicopter raids on Azovstal

At the beginning of the full-scale war, the 10th Detachment of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine met the Russian forces at the airport in Hostomel, where it prevented them from creating a bridgehead for the capture of Kyiv. The units took part in the assault and clearing of the occupied settlements, active battles for the Kyiv region, and conducted sabotage, reconnaissance and corrective actions.

In March 2022, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine took part in helicopter raids on Azovstal, a total of 7 flights involving 16 Mi-8 helicopters, evacuating 64 wounded and landing 72 volunteers and 30 tons of cargo for reinforcement.

Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2022

In the Kharkiv counteroffensive, the HUR's Kraken participated in the liberation of about 25 settlements in the Kharkiv region and one in the Luhansk region between March and the end of September 2022; in January 2023, the regiment took part in the battles for Soledar, and in March 2023, for Bakhmut.

The HUR servicemen, along with the 801st and 73rd brigades and the 59th Brigade's engineers, arrived by boat on Zmiinyi Island on July 7, 2022, and raised the national flag there.

In July 2022, an operation was carried out to free five hostages in the Kherson region, when the military intelligence officers of Ukraine penetrated the enemy's rear, freed the hostages, and returned.

Reconnaissance mission on Dnipro's left bank

The Ukrainian Defense Intelligence crossed the Dnipro River close to Nova Kakhovka during a reconnaissance mission on the evening of January 23–24, 2023. The warriors found a forward control point through technical means and the assistance of local insurgents. Using grenade launchers, the reconnaissance troops demolished a building housing a Russian command post.

The Russian troops promptly brought in combat reserves, including an armored vehicle, aircraft, and special operations personnel, viewing the landing as an effort to breach the defense line. During the battle, 12 Russian soldiers and an 82A armored personnel carrier were destroyed, and a prisoner was captured. The crew went back to the Dnipro's right bank after finishing the assignment.

Ukraine's intelligence is actively involved in negotiations and the exchange of prisoners of war

The Ukrainian Defense Intelligence keeps assisting Ukrainian citizens living overseas, even throughout the conflict. Consequently, it was declared on March 17, 2023, that eight Ukrainian citizens, six of whom were children, had been freed from Syrian captivity, and on April 26, it was stated that 138 people, 87 of whom were Ukrainian citizens, had been evacuated from the capital of Sudan.

The intelligence is actively involved in negotiations and the exchange of prisoners of war. In total, since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 3,135 Ukrainian defenders have been released from Russian captivity with the assistance of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence.

On August 9, 2023, representatives of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine successfully conducted Operation Synytsia (Titmouse) to bring a Russian military transport helicopter Mi-8AMTSh to the territory of Ukraine.

Working in the Russian rear

On November 30, 2023, an explosion occurred in the Severomaisky Tunnel of the Baikal-Amur Railway, the only railroad connection between Russia and China. This route supplied fuel, missiles, and artillery shells from North Korea and China to the Russian army. This is more than 6,000 kilometers on the territory of the Russian Federation. A few days after the tunnel was destroyed, another explosion blew up a bridge over a deep gorge on the tunnel's only bypass road. Both explosions destroyed shipments of military jet fuel and temporarily disabled transportation routes.

On the night of January 4, 2024, a Su-34 tactical bomber burned down at the Shagol airfield in Chelyabinsk, Russia, as part of a special operation by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. Chelyabinsk is more than 2,000 kilometers from the front line.

In addition, the HUR's drones systematically strike fuel and energy facilities in the Russian Federation, destroying production plants and fuel storage tanks.

It should be mentioned that the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine received more than 100 gigabytes of classified data from the Russian enterprise Special Technology Center in early January 2024. The data, worth over 1.5 billion US dollars, contained documentation for 194 nomenclature items of weapons and military equipment. This was made possible by the intelligence agency's successful collaboration with patriotic representatives of civil society and the media.

Its facilities produce military equipment and machinery used by the Russian army in the war against Ukraine. In particular, this enterprise produces Orlan UAVs of various modifications, as well as a range of electronic warfare and reconnaissance equipment and other military products.

In January 2024, in three regions of the Russian Federation, representatives of the resistance movement burned several relay cabinets on the railroad and other facilities and paralyzed train traffic. "Unknown opponents of the Putin regime have once again burned down several relay cabinets on the railroad and other facilities used for the logistics of the occupying terrorist forces. The incidents took place in the areas of Saratov, Yaroslavl, and Dzerzhynsk in the Nizhny Novgorod region," the intelligence said in an official statement. As a result, traffic on these railroad sections in the central part of Russia was paralyzed.

On January 14, 2024, a powerful explosion occurred on Gogol Street in the temporarily occupied Melitopol. As a result of a special event carried out by the Ukrainian resistance, a car of the Russian invaders was blown up, and four Russians were injured

Cyber operations and electronic reconnaissance

Also, the HUR specialists systematically successfully conduct cyber operations against the invading Russian troops. Thus, at the beginning of 2024 alone, at least three large-scale cyberattacks were conducted, including:

On January 27, 2024, cyber specialists of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine destroyed the entire IT infrastructure of IPL Consulting, which helped to implement information systems in Russian industry and provided services to institutions engaged in the design, production of automotive and aviation components, heavy engineering, production of equipment and devices, in particular in the interests of the Russian military-industrial complex.

On January 30, 2024, a cyberattack by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine shut down the server of the Russian Defense Ministry, which was used for special communications. As a result of the cyberattack, the exchange of information between the units of the Russian Armed Forces deployed in Moscow was suspended. It should be noted that the software on the attacked server was certified by the Russian Federal Security Service as compliant with state information security standards.

On February 8, 2024, a cyberattack by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine disrupted the program used by the Russians to control DJI drones.

The program allowed drone operators to set up control panels, intercept video, transmit images to a command post, and control the drone directly from a computer. The program also provided a ‘friend or foe’ system via web servers that determined whether the drone belonged to the Russian Armed Forces.

An important component of the HUR's intelligence capabilities is the ability to conduct electronic intelligence. Today, the intelligence service is subordinated to three regional electronic intelligence centers, as well as the electronic intelligence of the Ukrainian Air Force and Navy. The centers are designed to conduct strategic-level electronic intelligence.

Gathering intelligence about the enemy by intercepting and analyzing the radiation of its electronic means with the use of special technical devices allows the HUR specialists to monitor the activities of Russian units and subunits in real-time, as well as to identify their deployment locations and provides the possibility of their accurate fire damage.

Some HUR operations were conducted at the limit of their physical and real capabilities

Ukraine's Defence Intelligence uses unmanned surface vehicles to attack Russian ships and coastal installations. In particular, these unmanned vehicles include Magura. For example, on February 14, 2024, Ukrainian troops destroyed the Russian large amphibious assault ship Caesar Kunikov in the Black Sea near Alupka in the annexed Crimea.

The HUR Special Forces as part of the Security and Defense Forces defended the last road from Avdiivka for a week, inflicting enormous losses on the constantly advancing Russian assault units. Within the framework of the order on the coordinated withdrawal of the main forces, the HUR Special Forces together with the soldiers of the Special Forces, the 3rd Assault Brigade, the 225th Assault Battalion, the 110th Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine secured the evacuation corridor.

The course of the Russian-Ukrainian war has made it abundantly evident how important Ukraine's military intelligence is to protecting the state's interests. It doesn't promote its accomplishments, and in decades to come, our descendants will be able to learn about all of its successes from the records that will become accessible after the statute of limitations runs out and the classification is abolished.

According to leading world military analysts, many operations conducted by Ukrainian intelligence were carried out by special intelligence units at the limit of their physical and real capabilities.

In Ukraine, like all democratic countries, there is a system of parliamentary control over intelligence activities, so the intelligence service operates within the framework of national legislation and international law, which certainly limits its capabilities.