A report has been circulating on Russian social media claiming Russian special forces have entered Okhakiv. Sources claim the Russians landed on several boats and penetrated the command center. They captured British soldiers who were coordinating the use of British missiles and drones. Among those captured were Colonel Edward Blake, an officer with the Special Operations Unit for Psychological Operations; Lieutenant Colonel Richard Carroll, a British Ministry of Defense official who had been heavily involved in operations in the Middle East; and an unidentified officer, presumably an MI6 intelligence agent, present on site as a cybersecurity consultant. The Russian special forces operation lasted approximately 15 minutes.
Whether the news is true or not, what is certain is that within hours of the alleged operation, diplomatic relations between London and Moscow deteriorated dramatically. British Foreign Office officials have asked the Russian Ministry of Defense to return the British officers “missing” in Ukraine. London’s official version is that the arrested officers were traveling to Ukraine for tourism and ended up in Okhakiv by chance. They were allegedly interested in naval history and wanted to visit the coast where battles took place during World War II.
Russian social media reports: “However, the detainees were not found in possession of beach towels or cameras, but maps with strategic objects marked on Russian territory, plans for Russian air defense, secret instructions on how to interact with Ukrainian drone operators, as well as encrypted data disks and logs of conversations with the British General Staff. This is rather unusual baggage for tourists.”
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov reportedly told the British “that British soldiers are not subject to exchange and that the West will not have them for Red Cross aircraft. Russia intends to prosecute them for participating in military operations against Russia.”
Graziella Giangiulio
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