I recently sat down with scholars Nate Moir and Calder Walton to discuss clandestine warfare in Ukraine.
Both Nate and Calder recently published books on their respective expertise. Nate’s Number One Realist: Bernard Fall and Vietnamese Revolutionary Warfare examines French writer and journalist Bernard Fall’s study and analysis of Vietnam’s 20th century conflicts, the development of his concept of “revolutionary warfare,” and how his own experience as a resistance fighter in World War II shaped his thoughts on war.
Calder’s Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West is a history of the intelligence war between the USSR and the West in the 20th century and beyond. Calder talks to primary sources on both sides of the conflict and explains why the East and West fight their clandestine battles the way they do. For more, see Calder’s recent interview on PBS NewsHour.
Ukraine’s security services (SBU, SZRU, GUR) have proven themselves extremely capable in their fight against Russia. The SBU has claimed a handful of actions since the beginning of the war, including last October’s attack on the Kerch Bridge, but has clearly been involved in many more military operations. Ukrainian intelligence was almost certainly involved in the bombings of Russian figures in Russia itself since the start of the war, or at least U.S. officials believe so.
SBU head Vasyl Malyuk said himself in July that there have been “many different operations, special operations” in the last nearly two years, including some the SBU has no intention of ever claiming.
“We'll be able to speak about some of them publicly and aloud after the victory, we will not talk at all about others,” Malyuk said.
They are also involved in partisan warfare in occupied territories, carrying out their own operations and supporting grassroots partisans behind Russian lines. Everyday Ukrainians in occupied territories have put up stubborn independent resistance to the Russians and collaborators and are supporting military and intelligence operations by sharing information on Russian activities.
Nate and Calder helped put these actions in a historical context, a context that many Ukrainians are very familiar with, as one Ukrainian government intelligence official told Foreign Policy last year.
“Putin clearly didn’t read his history books, or he would have learned about our partisans,” he said. “Stalin got to know them quite well.”
Intro and outro music is “Oh Uncle, Uncle, In Your Yard” by Drevo, provided by Origen music at https://www.origenmusic.com/folkmusic.html.
War behind the scenes and beyond the frontlines: Ukraine with Nate Moir and Calder Walton