Ukrainian resistance cells in Russian-occupied territory have adopted a new tactic to gather battlefield information for drone strikes: catfishing Russian soldiers.
A story in The Atlantic details a system that uses handlers, local agents and online deception to gather information from inside occupied areas. In one case, The Atlantic reported that a Chechen commander, identified as Achmad, sent a photo from his barracks showing a map of the compound behind him. A Ukrainian drone later struck the coordinates revealed in the photo.
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Achmad thought he was sending the photo to a 35-year-old housewife in an unhappy marriage. Instead, he had been enticed to share sensitive information by a middle-aged Ukrainian officer identified as Sherhiy.
Why Ukraine’s underground network matters
The episode underscores how Ukraine’s resistance movement has shifted away from visible acts of defiance and toward intelligence work that is harder to detect.
Early acts of resistance included public displays of Ukrainian symbols and patriotic music, according to the outlet. But resistance figures told The Atlantic that open support for Ukraine has become far more dangerous under Russian occupation.
A Kherson resistance operative said people once took “insane risks,” but Russian repression later developed its own momentum. Surveillance cameras monitor occupied areas, while Russian forces use interrogations and phone searches at checkpoints.
“Pro-Ukrainian graffiti can get you killed,” Petro Andriushchenko, who coordinates a cell still operating in Mariupol, told The Atlantic.
How resistance cells feed Ukraine’s targeting
According to The Atlantic, most agents operating within occupied territory work alone and maintain contact with handlers in unoccupied Ukraine via encrypted messages. One operative, identified by the code name Sestra, said that not knowing the full network protects others if someone is captured.
“What you do not know,” she said, “you cannot betray under interrogation.”
Women play a major role in the resistance, especially those working in clinics, schools and local government offices under Russian occupation. Russian soldiers often fail to view women as combatants, allowing some women to move through occupied areas with less scrutiny.
Ukrainian operatives build fake relationships with occupation troops to collect locations, photographs or operational details. Mediaite described the tactic as catfishing.
Resistance work becomes quieter and more technical
The Atlantic describes a resistance movement now focused less on public symbols and more on intelligence that supports drone operations.
The outlet reported that information from occupied areas supports what it called a “middle-strike” campaign against air defenses, logistics hubs, command posts and personnel.
Iegor Kravchenko, a commander in Ukraine’s 426th Unmanned Systems Regiment, told The Atlantic that “a significant percentage” of his unit’s nightly missions rely on intelligence from the resistance.
Communication has also become more difficult. Russian-installed monitoring software on phones in occupied areas can track communications, photos and location data. Phones brought in from unoccupied Ukraine have become essential, but smuggling routes and methods are closely guarded.
Training remains uneven. The Atlantic reported that few agents have professional training and that partisans pass around hard-copy tradecraft manuals to avoid vulnerable digital channels. The outlet reported that one sought-after manual was a Soviet-era handbook describing CIA catfishing tactics in Africa during the Cold War.
The Atlantic reported that some children took part in early resistance efforts but that resistance leaders now say they enforce a ban on children participating because of the danger.
“We need intel, not art,” Andriushchenko said. “When they turn 18, they’ll get their turn.”
The network’s broader message is that Russian occupation remains contested from within.
Sestra told The Atlantic she wants Russian soldiers to fear ordinary people around them, including “the grandmother at the market,” “the bus driver” and “the doctor in the clinic.”
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