Four members of the “Timur” group of the special forces GUR, Ukrainian military intelligence, in September 2023. ADRIEN VAUTIER / LE PICTORIUM POUR “LE MONDE”
Lieutenant Colonel “Timur” and the elite soldiers of his unit may one day go down in Ukrainian history, as they were the first fighters to station a soldier on the Ukrainian flag on August 24, the country’s Independence Day, for the first time in almost ten years on the land of Crimea. The memory of their feat, a “symbolically very important” military action, Timur estimates, will depend on whether this area is recaptured or not.
Crimea is the first region of Ukraine to be annexed by Russia in 2014. It is the symbol of Ukraine’s desire to return to the borders of 1991, the year of the country’s independence. “It all began in Crimea and everything will end in Crimea,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly repeats to his foreign interlocutors.
While covert operations by Ukraine’s General Directorate of Military Intelligence (GUR) are not usually officially confirmed, Kiev announced on Independence Day that a special forces unit had carried out a daring operation in Crimea. “Our troops have carried out a landing on the peninsula [criméenne]in cooperation with the naval forces,” said Andriy Yusov, a representative of the GUR.
Conduct “combat reconnaissance”.
General Kyrylo Boudanov, head of military intelligence, added himself on television a few hours later: “The importance of the special operation in Crimea is that our people remember that victory, liberation and the return to normal life are not that. “ far away.” Kiev thus exceptionally confirmed the existence and success of a secret operation, because one of its goals was precisely to strengthen the morale of Ukrainians.
At an undisclosed location in Kiev, four GUR officers were authorized to discuss operation “Prodoudjenia sili” (“The Force Awakens,” in reference to the Star Wars film), on the condition that they not reveal any operational details. Lieutenant Colonel “Timur”, with his pseudonym “Guerre”, who commanded the operation, Lieutenant “Ivanov”, a specialist in incursions into enemy territory, Colonel “X” and Lieutenant “Y”, all took part in the mission that gave them the Congratulations from their comrades and medals awarded by the Ukrainian President.
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The four officers serve in one of the GUR’s largest special forces battalions, which they call the “Timur Group” after their leader. Its main mission is to provide “combat intelligence”, i.e. everything that makes it possible to “prepare the advance of the armed forces”. The group conducts both front-line operations, attacks or diversions, as well as operations deep into enemy territory to “destroy Russian army command posts,” “eliminate Russian officers involved in attacks on Ukrainian civilians,” and “others missions to complete.” We have no right to mention this,” Timur specifies.
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