May 31, 2025: Over the last year Russian security officials began to notice a frightening pattern. A growing number of men who had been involved in the Ukraine war were dying, but from murder instead of natural causes. Bombs, bullets and seeming accidents have killed a hundred or more people involved in supporting Russia in Ukraine. This included Ukrainian traitors as well as Russian army veterans and senior officers, plus members of Russia’s police, intelligence and security services.

It gets worse, the Ukrainian SBU internal security agency appears to have organized this campaign as they have had similar operations in the past. The Russian FSB, the successor to the dreaded Soviet era KGB, has been on the case and reported that this terror campaign is well organized and extensive. Worse, the FSB found that many people in Russia were active in carrying out these killings. This is because several million Russians and Ukrainians were displaced from Ukraine during the war. Some fled, other were forced into Russia. The SBU has been in touch with many of these former Ukraine residents and found many of them willing to fight back against the Russians from inside Russia. Since 2022 more of these exiles have turned against Russia and the SBU took advantage of that. The FSB knows this because they have managed to discover some of the shipments of weapons and explosives shipped into Russia from European countries for these Ukrainian operatives. Some of the weapons used were obtained in Russia. As disabled or deserting Russian soldiers returned home, some brought weapons and explosives with them as souvenirs, Others planned to use these items for criminal activities. It’s not just the Ukrainians who are bringing the war home to Russia; many pro-Ukraine Russian veterans of the war are doing so as well.

Russian intelligence noted that a growing number of these attacks are against Russian government officials. While Russian officers and troops are guilty of atrocities in Ukraine, their superiors are responsible. The attack victims are beginning to include more senior government officials and the FSB fears that the campaign will eventually include Vladimir Putin and his close associates. Providing additional security for that many senior officials cannot be done. The growing labor shortage in Russia extends to government departments. Wealthy Russians have been able to send their families abroad for extended visits, at least until the war and its domestic hazards are past. All the reliable personnel security people are employed and finding additional people is nearly impossible. The Ukrainians figured this out first and timed their internal Russian assassination program for when the targets would have the least protection.

Terrorizing Russians in Russia will continue until the war is over, and some suspicious deaths will occur long after. Many believe that revenge is a process that never gets old. For victims, getting to the bottom of the culprits list could take decades.

All this should come as no surprise to the Russians, who have always viewed the combat zone as much larger than the areas in Ukraine where fighting has taken place. Russia also considered NATO nations supporting Ukraine to be full of legitimate targets. Russia does not issue press releases about its sabotage and assassination campaign in NATO countries supporting the Ukrainians. Americans and European intelligence agencies first detected this activity when it was in the planning stage. The Russians soon went from planning to implementation. Russia planned a series of assassinations and attacks on facilities involved with manufacturing weapons and munitions for Ukrainian forces. Americans and European intelligence nations detected these plans and did so early enough to disrupt Russian efforts to implement their plans.

The Americans have long maintained a ground and space-based monitoring and intelligence gathering operation. This meant monitoring communications Russian government officials believed was secure and safe from the wrong people listening in. This information was shared with other NATO nations and Ukraine, which plans to become a NATO member when the war is over. All the intelligence data will be useful as Ukraine continues to carry out retribution attacks against Russians with Ukrainian blood on their hands.