Something UNSEEN Is Destroying Russia from Within... And It’s Spreading

What this episode is about

Ukrainian resistance against Russian occupation is a robust and organized effort, deeply rooted since 2016, that seeks to involve the civilian population in combating oppression. Led by an anonymous special operations forces commander, this grassroots movement aligns its goals with the military's objective to expel Russian forces and restore Ukraine's sovereignty, utilizing diverse methods to undermine the Kremlin's control.

Key takeaways

• Ukraine's resistance is a testament to civilian courage; ordinary lives becoming extraordinary warriors against oppression.
• Despite Putin's claims of control, Ukrainian guerrillas remind him that danger lurks behind every corner, day or night.
• From IEDs to inspiring classrooms, Ukraine’s dual strategy shows that resistance isn’t just armed; it's also cerebral.
• Historical echoes of the French Resistance highlight that true defiance flourishes in the shadows of occupation.
• Teaching resilience is as vital as guerrilla tactics; Ukraine invests in future fighters by empowering today's youth.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Anonymous Special Operations Forces Commander (Guest) · 13 min speaking
• Jack Ma (Host) · 6 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: French Resistance
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Vladimir Putin
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Luhansk
4. 9:00 – 12:00: Vladimir Putin, Soviet Union
5. 12:00 – 15:00: Luhansk, Daetsk, New Zealand
6. 15:00 – 18:00: Estonia, Lithuania
7. 18:00 – 19:13: Vladimir Putin

Notable quotes from "Something UNSEEN Is Destroying Russia from Within... And It’s Spreading"

• Examples of resistant movements like this dating back hundreds or even thousands of years. Many well-known resistance efforts formed during World War II, for example, like the…

  about French Resistance · at 1:54

• Style strikes against their Russian oppressors. As a result, even while Russian President Vladimir Putin may boast about total control of certain cities and regions, the…

  about Vladimir Putin · at 4:28

• Conscious person understands what they came here for and sees what they're doing. He goes on to note that the elderly or middle-aged members of the resistance movement are old enough to remember the days of the Soviet Union.

  about Soviet Union · at 10:47

• In one way or another they can contribute to carrying out tasks or carrying them out directly. Most of these people are Ukrainians born and bred. They're folks who have lived…

  about Luhansk · at 12:43

• And the SOF regularly receives requests from people in other nations offering to help however they can. The commander notes, for example, that such offers of help can come as…

  about New Zealand · at 14:45

• To sharing our experiences as much as possible, and citing examples like Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland, where resistance movements against Russian occupation could become…

  about Estonia · at 16:04

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Vladimir Putin — Person · Referenced political leader / antagonist figure · 3 mentions · first at 4:33
  Mentioned as Russia's president and symbolic head of the Kremlin regime the Ukrainian resistance opposes; used to contrast Russian claims of control with ongoing resistance and as the direct addressee of the interview's closing message.

Concepts & topics

• French Resistance — Concept · Key argument · 1 mention · first at 2:03
  Cited as a historical example of resistance against occupation, inspiring current Ukrainian resistance efforts.
• Soviet Union — Concept · Key argument · 1 mention · first at 10:57
  Referenced as a historical context for the resistance, with older members remembering its era and rejecting its return.

Places & events

• Luhansk — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at 6:38
  Highlighted as an occupied region where resistance activities, including educational defiance, are taking place.
• Daetsk — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at 12:52
  Mentioned as another occupied region where resistance members originate from, highlighting local ties and motivations.
  In one way or another they can contribute to carrying out tasks or carrying them out directly. Most of these people are Ukrainians born and bred. They're folks who have lived…
• Estonia — Place · Referenced location · 1 mention · first at 16:09
  Mentioned alongside Lithuania and Finland as countries potentially facing similar threats from Russia.
• Lithuania — Place · Referenced location · 1 mention · first at 16:09
  Cited as a country interested in learning from Ukrainian resistance tactics against potential Russian aggression.
  Information with reasonable countries, including those next to the Russian Federation, adding that the SOF is open to sharing our experiences as much as possible, and citing…
• New Zealand — Place · Referenced location · 1 mention · first at 14:55
  Mentioned as a distant country from which individuals have offered support to the Ukrainian resistance.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Ukraine isn't just fighting Russia along the front lines, fending off assaults and launching counterattacks to push its enemies back. Its brave men and women are also targeting Russia from within, resisting occupation in the regions that Russia claims to have total control of. Even with the everpresent threats of imprisonment, torture, or even execution hanging overhead, these heroic souls lay their lives on the line, sending a clear and definitive message to the Kremlin that they'll never submit. One of the leaders of this remarkable resistance movement, an anonymous special operations forces SOF commander, recently sat down with the Kev Independent for an in-depth interview, shining light on the resistance extraordinary operations and the remarkable resilience of all involved.

0:50 Asked about the origins of the resistance movement, the commander acknowledged that it predates Russia's full-scale invasion, first beginning back in 2016, a couple of years after the annexation of Crimea. The idea behind it was simple. Get the civilian population involved as deeply as possible in the fight against Russia, giving everyday men and women who weren't enlisted in the armed forces the possibility to defend their country and strike back at their oppressors. As the commander notes, while their methods may vary, the goals of the resistance movement and the Ukrainian army are effectively aligned. Essentially, our goal is the same as that for all the other armed forces of Ukraine and of the Ukrainian people as a whole. To drive out the Russian army and their occupational authorities from our territories, thereby restoring our territorial integrity and defending our sovereignty. The goal is universal. It's

1:47 the same for all of us. But we achieve it essentially in a different way. History is littered with inspiring examples of resistant movements like this dating back hundreds or even thousands of years. Many well-known resistance efforts formed during World War II, for example, like the famous French Resistance. Made up of multiple groups of brave men and women from all walks of life that refused to bow down to their Nazi occupiers. The French resistance battled back against the German troops and the collaborationist vishy regime of the era, doing everything from publishing underground newspapers to carrying out guerrilla warfare attacks and facilitating the allies advance across French territory following the Normandy landings. No doubt taking inspiration from historic movements like this one, the Ukrainian SOF resistance also uses a myriad of methods to achieve its objectives. The commander cites classic methods, both

2:47 violent and nonviolent, going on to explain that the SOF trained civilians in the use of both small arms and special improvised explosive devices which they used to destroy the enemy in the territories occupied by Russia. He goes on to explain how some resistance members look for functional weapons that may have been abandoned on the battlefield to arm themselves, using guerilla tactics and silence arms to take out unsuspecting Russian patrols if and when the opportunity presents itself. Others are charged with manufacturing improvised explosive devices, IEDs, using whatever supplies they can get their hands on inside the occupied territories or receiving deliveries of other IEDs that have been prepared elsewhere in Ukraine and smuggled into the occupied regions. The resistance members then have to stealthily place these deadly devices in just the right places to deal maximum damage to their enemies, like radio

3:46 towers, communication stations, or alongside park tanks and armored infantry vehicles. To give these people the best chance of not being caught, the command explains how the IEDs are cleverly disguised. We camouflage them in every way possible to protect our people as much as possible and to delay, so to speak, the moment when a person can activate a particular device so that at the moment of activation, they're as far away as possible from the object they're targeting. Through tactics like these, Ukraine is able to not only have armed combatants along the front lines, but far behind them, ready to carry out covert attacks or surprise guerrilla style strikes against their Russian oppressors. As a result, even while Russian President Vladimir Putin may boast about total control of certain cities and regions, the resistance disproves his claims, actively reminding the oppressors that they're not safe,

4:44 they're not wanted, that their presence and aggression will simply not be tolerated or complied with, and that they should always sleep with one eye open because Ukrainian fighters are ready to strike when they least suspect it. But the resistance isn't all about violence. As past movements have proven, non-violent methods can sometimes be just as effective, if not more so, when it comes to undermining an oppressive regime. The commander explains, "We also widely use non-violent forms to influence Russia's military, to intimidate them in various ways and disrupt their efforts, and also to encourage our citizens who remain under occupation to fight the enemy or to intimidate those who collaborate with the Russians." Later in the interview, he goes on to site several illustrative examples of this idea in action. He mentions teachers, for example, who have the power to influence the minds of

5:39 future generations, providing what the commander calls a proper upbringing to young students who in the future will live there and understand that they need to wait out the time while the occupation lasts and not succumb to manipulation by the Russians. In other words, part of the resistance is about ensuring that the same levels of resilience and defiance that have defined the Ukrainian people since the war began continue to live on in their children. This in turn should ensure that no matter what the Russians do, no matter how hard they try, they will never truly break the Ukrainian spirit or subjugate the Ukrainian people. So, while Russian oppressors are attempting to ban books and control the school curriculum to paint themselves as heroes and liberators, brave Ukrainian teachers are daring to defy them and teaching their students the truth. The SOF even created a short film dedicated to these

6:34 inspiring educators and other members of the resistance depicting a history teacher and occupied Luhansk who organizes a secret Ukrainian study society and works together with some of his students to preserve Ukrainian literature. This is what makes the resistance so special. It's made up of people of all ages, professions, and backgrounds. all united by common desire to play their part and do their bit to defend their country however they can. Naturally, a lot of these people have no sort of military expertise or experience when it comes to resisting an occupying force without putting their own lives in grave danger. So, they have to be trained. This is an inherently dangerous task. But, as the commander explains, some of the people involved in the resistance were able to be trained before the full-scale invasion began. So they knew exactly what to do once the Russians troops crossed over their

7:28 borders and into their regions. Now they used the skills and abilities they acquired before the invasion to carry out their tasks. The SOF also trained as many willing people as possible in the early stages of the war. At that time it was still possible, albeit quite dangerous, for Ukrainians to travel back and forth across the front lines. These people were always at risk of being stopped, checked, and questioned by the occupying Russian soldiers. So, had to be given believable cover stories and explanations of why they needed to travel and where they were going. As the war has progressed, in-person resistance movement training has become far less viable. But that hasn't stopped the SOF accepting and educating new members. As the commander explains, the people who we find now or those who find us and are ready to cooperate with us, we train them remotely. The Ukrainians living in these regions, like countless people

8:26 before them whose lands have been forcefully seized by oppressors and invaders, don't need to indulge in these kinds of actions. They could take the much easier and safer option of complying with their oppressor's expectations and demands, going on to live quiet, simple lives, trying to find comfort where they can, and hoping that things work out for the better. That would be the much easier and far safer option, especially in a war like this one, which has seen so many documented war crimes and such horrific punishments for those who show even the smallest signs of supporting Ukraine or lashing out at the oppressive Russian regime.

9:05 Men who display any hint of resistance, for example, can be placed behind bars, tortured, or even forcibly mobilized, made to join the Russian ranks and take up arms and fight against their countrymen or suffer execution if they refuse. Women, meanwhile, are often subject to horrific sexual violence at the hands of Russian soldiers. And there have been numerous reports of rape being used as a weapon of war to threaten and frighten the civilian population with no punishment for the soldiers who commit these crimes. Even Ukraine's innocent children aren't safe under Russian rule.

9:40 The Ukrainian government reports that more than 19,500 children have been forcibly deported to Russia, taken from the only homes and families they've ever known before being brainwashed with pro-Russian propaganda and put up for adoption to Russian families. Parents, meanwhile, have been threatened with having their children taken away and housed in orphanages unless they volunteer to take part in Russian military training camps. These are just some of the terrible fates that await the countless Ukrainian people living in occupied regions. And punishments tend to be most severe for those that show any semblance of resistance or rebellion. Yet, in the face of all that adversity, so many people have and continue to stand up to their oppressors, risking it all in the name of defiance. When asked why this is, what are the motivations and forces that drive these people to do what they do, the commander explained that despite

10:35 their differences in age, background, and profession, many of these people share a similar sentiment. Primarily, people's motivation is rejection of Russians on our territories. Every conscious person understands what they came here for and sees what they're doing. He goes on to note that the elderly or middle-aged members of the resistance movement are old enough to remember the days of the Soviet Union. And of course, no one wants a repeat of the Soviet Union 2.0. Younger individuals, meanwhile, have grown up living freely, making free decisions about how to live, where to live, without instructions from the Kremlin or from Putin. Of course, they do not want all of this, and they understand that to have this freedom, it must be defended.

11:21 So while their exact reasons may differ, these people are all united, all working towards a common goal, all connected in their shared resentment of the Russian occupiers and a deep desire to see them go home. The commander also notes that some members of the resistance have more personal emotional reasons for signing up, having seen their innocent relatives and loved ones be captured or killed or their homes and businesses destroyed by Russian bombs and tanks for no logical reason. For them, this isn't just about getting rid of the Russians. It's about taking revenge. Regardless of their reasons, these people are all crucial cogs in a larger machine, and it's one that continues to grow bigger and stronger all the time, with almost anyone allowed to join. The commander notes that there are certain exceptions.

12:11 We do not work with miners. We don't work with people who are ill. The SOF also conducts interviews with prospective recruits to assess their willingness and motivations and may avoid enlisting those that they feel suspicious about. Apart from that however the movement is made up of lots of different kinds of people with varying skills and talents all of which are put to work for the greater good. A particular feature of our resistance movement is that every person regardless of profession can be so to speak involved in the resistance movement and in one way or another they can contribute to carrying out tasks or carrying them out directly. Most of these people are Ukrainians born and bred. They're folks who have lived in places like Daetsk and Luhansk for years if not all their lives. While they could have fled when the Russians first arrived, they chose to stay. There are various reasons for this. As the

13:05 commander explains, some of these people, for example, have strong ties to their regions like businesses, homes, or land in those areas that they didn't want to abandon. Others had elderly relatives who may have been too sick to flee, so they decided to stay behind and care for them. Some simply failed to leave in time or didn't fully understand the scale of the invasion, expecting it to end quickly. Then there are those who willingly chose to remain where they were to be part of the resistance and protect their land.

13:36 They secretly evacuate their families to Ukrainian controlled territory over time or even to the territory of the Russian Federation while they themselves stay and continue to carry out tasks. But not all of the members of the resistance are Ukrainian when questioned about foreigners involvement in the movement. The commander had some surprising answers. He explained that the SOF organizes the resistance throughout the entire territory of the Ukrainian state, including Ukrainian controlled regions and occupied territories. It involves a lot of research, background checks, training, and preparation for those deemed suitable to join the cause, and some of them come from countries all over the world. Some, the commander notes, even originally came to Ukraine as enemies. There were cases when people came to fight. They fell for the propaganda from the Russian Federation.

14:27 Went there and then already on this spot realized what it really was all about and then they contacted us to express their readiness to carry out tasks in our interest because they realized who is who in this war. Others left their homelands and travel to Ukraine purely with the intention of fighting for Kev. And the SOF regularly receives requests from people in other nations offering to help however they can. The commander notes, for example, that such offers of help can come as far away as New Zealand. We recently had a case where people contacted us and said, "Tell us how we can help. I'm ready to help. I want to be on the right side of history during this period." Of course, not all of these people can actually contribute in meaningful ways without physically being on the ground in the occupied territories, but the SOF appreciates all offers of support and strives to keep in touch with those who are ready to lend a

15:22 hand. There have been cases where other countries militaries have contacted the SOF asking to learn about how its resistance operates so that they can organize something similar if ever their countries are under similar levels of oppression or occupation. We have partners not only from the west as we usually think of it but also from the east who want to apply our experience in their own countries so that in the future they can take into account when some large country with large resources attacks a country with smaller resources.

15:54 The commander goes on to say that the resistance has already shared information with reasonable countries, including those next to the Russian Federation, adding that the SOF is open to sharing our experiences as much as possible, and citing examples like Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland, where resistance movements against Russian occupation could become increasingly important in the years to come. But perhaps the most shocking revelation from the commander's interview was that even Russians have enlisted in the Ukrainian resistance movement. Many Russians contact us through our channels. They also already have motivation. We see that now it's mostly hatred towards Putin, his regime, and how people perceive their future and understand they don't see it in the Russian Federation. They understand that Russia as such is becoming isolated, that they're being shut in. and people understand that if this is not stopped,

16:47 they will simply end up like North Korea someday, just with a larger territory. He goes on to explain that the resistance cooperates to varying degrees with Russians both abroad and in occupied territories, even going as far as providing consultation services to Russians who are eager to start their own resistance movements in other regions. This just goes to show that it's not just in Ukraine, Europe, and North America that people are turning against Putin, but even in his own country. The Russian people, many of whom either supported or silently tolerated the Kremlin regime, are beginning to grow sick and tired of this meaningless war and Moscow's ruthless quest for power. Many of them want peace, and they're increasingly willing to take action to achieve it. The longer this war goes on, the more people are likely to feel that way and the stronger this resistance will become. It still

17:42 faces challenges, of course, and the commander even admits that it's become harder to carry out tasks in certain areas because there are simply fewer people in those locations. But the movement isn't stopping, and it won't stop until it achieves its objectives. We will fight until our territories are liberated. Whether this is with support or without support from our partners, whether they recognize these territories as Russia or not, that doesn't depend on them. It depends solely on us Ukrainians who remain here in Ukrainian controlled territory and those citizens who remain in the occupied territories.

18:17 To end the interview, the reporter asked the commander what he'd say to Vladimir Putin if he had the chance. He responded simply and succinctly, "I'll tell him to leave us alone." If the resistance keeps up the fight and Ukraine's armed forces continue to enjoy the kind of big wins they've achieved of late, then perhaps someday Putin will finally hear that message. Now, you can learn more about one of Ukraine's recent victories in this video, which looks at how the country's armed forces achieved something that seemed impossible in the Donbass region. Alternatively, check out this video for a look at how Russia's once strong frontline defenses have begun to crumble. And finally, make sure to subscribe to our channel for more breaking military news, reports, and analysis from the Russia Ukraine war and other important conflicts across the globe.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Something UNSEEN Is Destroying Russia from Within... And It’s Spreading"?

Anonymous Special Operations Forces Commander (Guest), Jack Ma (Host).

What is "Something UNSEEN Is Destroying Russia from Within... And It’s Spreading" about?

Ukrainian resistance against Russian occupation is a robust and organized effort, deeply rooted since 2016, that seeks to involve the civilian population in combating oppression. Led by an anonymous special operations forces commander, this grassroots movement aligns its goals with the military's objective to expel Russian forces and restore Ukraine's sovereignty, utilizing diverse methods to…

What is mentioned in this Jack Ma Billionaire Mindset episode?

8 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Luhansk, Vladimir Putin, French Resistance, Soviet Union, Daetsk, Estonia. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Something UNSEEN Is Destroying Russia from Within... And It’s Spreading"?

The episode runs 19 min; the transcript is about 3,127 words in 23 timestamped sections.

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