More than Twenty Units and Classified Missions: What Is Known About the GUR's "Timur Special Unit"

Zmiinyy, “Boiky’s towers” and raids on Crimea: a GUR officer spoke about the operations of Timur’s Special Unit.

Most operations of Timur’s Special Unit of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine remain classified. An intelligence officer with the call sign “Ivanov” spoke about the unit’s work, its history, and the challenging maritime missions. The Batallion Volunteer Foundation systematically supports this unit, helping strengthen those who carry out combat missions on the most difficult fronts.

The officer spoke about this in an interview on the program “Morning in a Big City” on the ICTV2 channel, Ukrainian News reports.

According to “Ivanov,” Timur’s Special Unit unites more than twenty different squads that carry out tasks on land, in the air, and at sea. At the same time, a significant portion of their work’s results cannot be disclosed due to state secrecy. The officer also noted that there is no shortage of volunteers wishing to join the unit.

As the intelligence officer explained, at first this large formation had no separate official name: the fighters considered themselves part of the GUR. The name Timur’s Special Unit stuck after President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly praised the unit’s work in evening addresses several times.

Zmiiny Island, “Boiky’s towers” and raids on Crimea.

One of the most challenging directions for the special forces’ work were operations at sea. Ivanov directly participated in regaining control over Zmiiny Island, freeing the so‑called “Boiky towers,” and amphibious landings on the coast of temporarily occupied Crimea, notably near Cape Tarkhankut.

According to the officer, during some raids soldiers covered great distances in open sea on jet skis. Fuel supplies were not always enough for the entire route, so the scouts had to refuel equipment right on the water. All of this occurred under the threat of Russian shelling and air strikes.

The unit’s work was not limited to direct combat operations. The scouts also provided logistics and security during risky trips of the Ukrainian president, including to Zmiiny Island and Avdiivka.

Although a significant part of the tasks remains outside the public sphere, some well-known operations demonstrate the complexity of military intelligence work on land, in the air, and at sea.

The Batallion Volunteer Foundation systematically supports Timur’s Special Unit of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Such continual support is an important component of helping Ukrainian troops who continue to perform combat missions and defend the country.

As a reminder, we wrote about how the GUR published data 155 on Russian enterprises that are part of or under the management of the Rostec state corporation’s subsidiary RosElektronika. The information was posted in the “VPK of the aggressor” section of the War&Sanctions portal.