Naval Special Reconnaissance Unit 'Angels' Fighters: 'We Would Prefer Not to Talk About This at All'

"Escaping that 'concentration camp' is extremely difficult"

Fighters of the Naval Special Reconnaissance unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine 'Angels' evacuated a married couple from occupied territory. The Navy reported that those rescued are relatives of a Defense Forces officer. They could not leave on their own: the Russian FSB was watching them and, according to the military, tried to influence the officer by putting pressure on his family.

As Commander of the Navy Oleksii Neizhpapa noted, 'Angels' have been operating for more than four years and have already evacuated more than a hundred military personnel and civilians from occupied territories.

Donbas Realities (a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty project) spoke with a representative of the Naval special reconnaissance unit 'Angels' using the call sign 'Albert' about how the special unit conducts such operations and evacuates people from occupation, as well as about the situation in territories seized by Russia.

(The editorial office does not disclose the fighter’s surname for security reasons)

– You practically never reveal operation details and rarely appear in the media. Why do you take this approach? Could it harm your operations?

– Giving flowery interviews and telling operation details is not our style. But we maintain an official Facebook page, and we also have a YouTube channel where we share the results of our work to the extent we can.

Of course, any information from our side is sensitive. Even if at first glance it does not appear to be.

We would prefer not to talk at all about what we do, because even minimal information draws the enemy’s attention and prompts actions to counter our unit.

That both complicates our work and puts everyone connected to the unit’s activities at risk.

On the other hand, we understand we live in an information society and the information direction is very important. If there is no information about you, you do not exist.

That is why a year ago we decided to speak a little about what we do. But very dryly and only to the extent that will not harm the unit’s activities.

It is important to us that those who encounter problems know there is someone they can contact and that they will be helped. That they know how to do this correctly and how to protect those now under threat in the occupied territories.

– In Ukraine, authorities and experts often call on people, especially young people, to leave occupied territories. But it is not often mentioned that this can be impossible — for example, because a person simply will not be allowed to leave or will even be arrested during 'filtration'.

Who is mainly at risk? Can we say today that 'everyone who wants to can leave'?

– I need to put dots over the 'i's here: we are a military unit, and we have procedures.

We receive an order from our higher command, which gets information that family members of servicemembers are under threat. These cases assume we understand the risks and that a person might be lost if they try to go on their own. We avoid that and conduct such operations.

Regarding civilians, I can only say that this is the competence of our government, and such issues must be resolved on the international-political stage.

Representative of the Naval special reconnaissance unit 'Angels' with the call sign 'Albert'

But I will emphasize a few points. From our experience, we understand and have repeatedly been convinced that every Ukrainian citizen who remains in occupied territory is under threat.

Today it may seem to them that everything is fine, and tomorrow the occupiers will fabricate accusations out of nothing and apply repressions. Everyone is under threat — regardless of age, gender, or anything else. If you are Ukrainian, you are always under threat in occupation.

Considering this: leave if possible. But it is not as simple as it may seem. The Russians have turned all occupied territories into a separate concentration camp.

Even if you have some [Russian] documents, it is not easy to move within occupied territories, let alone travel to Russian regions or abroad. In short: escaping that 'concentration camp' is extremely difficult.

How many people live under occupation: what is known

There are 6 million Ukrainian citizens on territory temporarily occupied by Russia, 1,5 million of whom are children. This estimate was given in April 2024 by Iryna Vereshchuk, who then served as Deputy Prime Minister — Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories.

According to Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine data published in July 2026, the population of Donetsk and Luhansk regions during 10 years of occupation (2014–2024 years) has nearly halved.

At the same time, military intelligence noted that the aggressor implements a policy of replacing local residents with Russian citizens and labor migrants.

According to GUR estimates, as of 2024, approximately 200 thousand ethnic Russians and about 100 thousand labor migrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus were present in the occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. In occupied Crimea and Sevastopol as of July 2026 there were 200–300 thousand ethnic Russians.

– In your assessment, is the danger greater for teenagers and young people? I mean, this is conscription age, a mobilization reserve for the occupiers.

– Undoubtedly. Young people, mainly men, are at risk because of the high likelihood of being forcibly conscripted into the Russian Armed Forces. These categories of men and teenage boys should not delay leaving.

There are cases when such young people are 'on hold' with the Russians and cannot obtain any documents until they receive a military ID and a summons to the occupiers' army. This is an extremely difficult issue.

– Returning to the operations your unit carried out. Did you rescue people who were simply in a risk zone but not yet pursued by the occupiers, or those on whom the FSB had already exerted some pressure?

– When the planning stage occurs, we receive initial information from our command that a particular person is already under close attention and is under threat.

In general, the threat is always present. Everyone still living in occupied territories who has not been able to leave for years must understand this.

We deal exclusively with relatives of servicemembers. The FSB closely monitors this issue; they are well informed about family ties — whether it is a father, mother, or a child. That is always a risk category.

In our cases, of course, there have been various situations. In particular, when people were already in the FSB’s field of view. That is a separate category of missions, and we are not prepared to talk about them now.

I think we will be able to disclose that information only after victory, because any extra detail could be useful to the enemy. And that, in turn, concerns people’s lives and fates.

– If you can give recommendations: what should people in occupied territories do who understand that contact with occupation police or the FSB is likely to cause problems? For example, as in the case of the servicemember’s relatives.

– Without going into deep details, a superficial set of recommendations: always limit what you say when communicating with FSB representatives or any occupation bodies or temporary occupation administration, which also allow themselves to pressure Ukrainian citizens — primarily those who have family ties with anyone serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Never share your plans, even with your closest friends or neighbors.

Maintain certain information hygiene: that concerns social media pages and any connections to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These things should ideally be avoided, but unfortunately not everyone manages that, and it becomes a bit too late.

– If a person understands they are under threat or preparing for a difficult situation, what should be the first steps of 'digital hygiene'? Because a completely clean phone can also be suspicious.

– Yes, of course, I won’t argue that. But I can recall what the operations center [security] advises: remove any links to Ukrainian [military] uniforms, Ukrainian publications, and posts about gatherings.

There has been more than one case when a person, a Ukrainian citizen, was suspected because of this and convicted of 'state treason' or 'supporting terrorism'.

We are dealing with an aggressor country, a terrorist country that uses the civilian population for its purposes. They manipulate these people to put pressure on their relatives here in Ukraine for further exploitation.

It must be understood that we are not talking about a fundamentally lawful country. We are talking about a country that will use any methods it deems necessary to make a person culpable of something.

– Is it possible (and is there any point) to contact 'Angels' directly if people want to get out of occupation and cannot?

– We are not a volunteer organization; we cannot accept requests from citizens through social media pages or anything else.

We have military leadership that gives us orders, and we act on them.

There were cases when information came from Ombudswoman for the Military Olha Reshetylova. A servicemember from one brigade approached her with a situation, and she sent her appeal to Vice Admiral Oleksii Neizhpapa because she knew such a unit existed.

Regarding the marine infantry and the Navy, servicemembers are within the system, and communication happens internally. There is an appeal; it goes to the commander. The commander gives an instruction, and then we begin planning the operation.

Sometimes servicemembers directly contact our commander, and we start acting. We cannot accept all requests that may come in through social networks, because we are a military unit.

Overall, speaking about civilians on temporarily occupied territories — they are, first and foremost, hostages who do not fall under any criminal codes: neither Russia’s, nor Ukraine’s, nor the European Union’s. They are simply people who have ended up in a very unpleasant stalemate.

This is a large-scale problem that concerns teenagers, adults, and the elderly alike, even if they took [Russian] passports over two or three or even ten years — problems remain. For example, regarding the occupied left bank of Kherson region and settlements near the Dnipro River, like Enerhodar — people there are practically hostages.

Only in Enerhodar might it still be possible to leave, whereas in the case of Oleshky or Oleshky district in Kherson region we are talking about people caught on the frontline between the Ukrainian army and Russia’s army.

The Ukrainian army cannot fully operate there because there are many civilians — thousands of people. On the other side are the Russians who do not let those people leave. We actually have facts that logistics routes are cut. It is impossible to deliver food, medicine, water, or gas.

There are no representatives of Russian administration there, and at the same time no one helps people to evacuate.

No food, medicines or water: what is happening in occupied Oleshky

The UN Monitoring Mission on Human Rights in Ukraine (UNMM) stated that as of 24 June no food supplies had arrived to the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in Kherson region since 26 May. In addition, evacuation is practically impossible due to mined roads and constant attacks, and local residents report shortages of food, drinking water, and medical assistance.

The UNMM recalled that under international law an occupying power is obliged to provide the population with food and medical supplies and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid when necessary.

On 1 July, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to obtain from Russia a 'ceasefire' 3 July to evacuate civilians from temporarily occupied Oleshky and five adjacent populated areas in Kherson region.

Earlier Lubinets repeatedly stated that the Russian occupation authorities block people’s exit from settlements on the left bank of Kherson region and impede delivery of humanitarian aid. At the beginning of May, he said, he had already appealed to the ICRC and the Russian side to ensure the safe evacuation of civilians.

As Tetyana Hasanenko, head of the Oleshky city military administration, told Radio Kultura, official estimates indicate about two thousand people remain in Oleshky, but the actual number of residents may be 3–4 thousand. Among them about 50 children and a large number of elderly and low-mobility people who cannot evacuate on their own.

As of early August, no change in the situation in Oleshky and nearby settlements is known — no restoration of food and medicine supplies or establishment of a 'ceasefire' for civilian evacuation.

Oleshky in Kherson region was occupied on the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

– Is your unit involved in this?

– We are not involved, we are simply aware of the situation because this is our region and we work in the Navy and with the marine infantry in particular. So we understand what is happening, and it is effectively a tragedy that must be resolved not just by the efforts of a small unit.

– A person in occupation cannot always assess what threatens them. What should they pay attention to to protect themselves?

– To advise something specific to someone is not an option at all because we are talking not about dozens or hundreds, but about thousands of people.

You cannot give the same advice to everyone; situations differ: someone is a person with a disability, someone is low-mobility, someone is an old grandmother, someone is a small child who wants to come to Ukraine but doesn’t know how and no one will show them. And even if shown, there is a high probability the Russians will take advantage and simply refuse to let them leave.

Sometimes there is a tie, for example, to cooperation with Ukrainians, and then the Russians say — that’s 'state treason.' That is at least logical in a chain. But there are many instances where, without explanation, they simply say: no, and that's it.

In Kherson region, people delivering bread are struck down by Russian drones, preventing delivery of bread or carrying out volunteer work. Additionally, this creates strong panic and fear among civilians who remain there. They understand that on one side there is fire, and on the other — the river.

– Can one then say that it is much harder to evacuate people from newly occupied territories than from territories occupied since 2014?

– This is a different plane of the situation itself, because we must account for geographic factors: Donetsk and Luhansk regions are landlocked. It is an administrative border where our old checkpoints were occupied and now operate under their regime with posted 'border guards-FSB guys'.

Here (in Kherson region — ed.) we must consider the geographic factor: people are surrounded by water above and below, and besides land routes they have no other way out.

And the land routes are dozens of checkpoints manned by various military units of the Russian army, each of which often acts arbitrarily. If they want — they stop you; if not — they do not stop you; if they want — they rob you, if they want — take your documents, physically harm you and tell you 'go back to the village'.

Recently a civilian young man tried to leave. He had no problems, no ties to terrorism, no ties to the Armed Forces. He was just a citizen who had already obtained that second passport (Russian — ed.) to leave. But when he was on the train, a situational stop occurred — a full document check.

All young people like him with Russian passports were taken off, inflicted with measured bodily harm, hinted that they worked for us (the Armed Forces — ed.), and then just left in some random village where the train had been stopped without warning. This is not fiction. I wish it were, but it is reality.

This is already a problem of such scale that it must be resolved at a higher political level, through international partnerships, international meetings and dialogues, and with humanitarian missions that supposedly have worked for years but, objectively, are local initiatives.

We (the unit — ed.) are in the system, we work, we have instructions and coordinated actions regarding servicemembers of this branch of the forces. Personally, of course, we would like to multiply and be in every branch of the forces as much as possible to help even more people.

I want to help, I would honestly like to help everyone

However, again, returning to the tragedy, not all civilians are connected to servicemembers. But that does not mean they should not be evacuated.

That does not mean a teenager growing up there should remain there, because in the future he will become an adult who will be obliged to serve and take up arms and come here. You must understand that that is the reality.

The Russians take advantage of this. They steal children. They looted many orphanages where administrations could offer no resistance. Children were simply taken away. They are now in various locations in the Russian Federation.

Key figures on Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia

According to official Kyiv data, since the start of the full-scale invasion Russia has deported or moved nearly 20 000 Ukrainian children to its territory, including orphans and wards of various institutions.

At the same time, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets estimated that Russia illegally took about 150 thousand children from Ukraine, while Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Children’s Rights Daria Herasymchuk cited a figure of 'several hundred thousand children, i.e., around 200–300 thousand'.

Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova claimed in July 2023 that Russia since the full-scale invasion 'has accepted' about 4,8 million residents of Ukraine, of whom more than 700 thousand are children. According to her, most Ukrainian children allegedly came to Russia with parents or other relatives.

In March 2023 the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian children's ombudsperson Maria Lvova-Belova. They are suspected of committing war crimes — forcible deportations and transfers of population, including children from occupied Ukrainian territories.

Thanks to the Bring Kids Back UA initiative and the efforts of intermediaries (including Qatar), more than 2100 Ukrainian children abducted by Russia have been returned to their homeland, 150 of them since the start of this year, the presidential press service reported on 22 April.

A Yale Humanitarian Research Lab study collected information on at least 43 institutions in Russia and occupied Crimea where Ukrainian children are subjected to ideological re-education and 'integration' into Russian society in an attempt to change their identity.

If we speak about newly occupied territories and the old ones — Luhansk, Donetsk regions and Crimea — there is also a problem of assimilation. We cannot get into every person’s head and persuade them to return.

People can be cunning: some come here, receive pensions, return and receive pensions there too. Or they keep apartments both here and there and then try to sell them.

However, this must be resolved at the state level. Propose something. Show people that living here is better. The sooner civilians leave the territories, the easier it will be for the Armed Forces to carry out their operations.

– It feels like this topic of occupied territories and people who remain there is personally painful for you.

– Honestly, it cannot not hurt, because you understand there are thousands of potential citizens who could live in Ukraine, contribute here, simply grow old and die on free soil.

We even had one case where an elderly woman 90 years old left with something. She grew up with memories of World War II, then ATO nearby, and later the war came to her home.

I want to help; I would really like to help everyone.