The second front that strike in the back

Bitten by Mordor.

I see a wave of outrage online after a video surfaced showing a soldier being brutally beaten by a pack of young men — savage, animalistic violence. But really, what’s there to be surprised about? It’s just another “quest.”

Another quest, just like the arson attacks on military vehicles across the country — hundreds of them. Just like the sabotage on railways: setting fire to and damaging relay cabinets, automation systems. This isn’t hooliganism — these are direct acts of sabotage. Sabotage for money. Recruited through Telegram.

In the photo: two young men in Kryvyi Rih. They torched a military vehicle and are casually walking home. I managed to help the police track down the arsonists — they were detained.

Turns out, one of them — the one in the photo — is the son of a Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier. The father was at home, recovering from a severe injury, disabled. And the son? He’s out there burning down a UAF vehicle.

It’s already a trend. Honestly, I feel safer on the front line than in the rear. You start thinking about whether you remembered to take the Starlink off your car roof. Sometimes I feel like a spy, using fake license plates so the car isn’t recognized, just to avoid risk. After pulling out from a combat zone, orders come in: everyone must wear civilian clothes. Because it’s unclear anymore how many Telegram-recruited agents are out there around us.

We used to paint our vehicles in camo colors — now we’re repainting them to look civilian.

What’s troubling isn’t the fact that professional agents are operating — that’s always been the case and always will be. What’s truly disturbing is something else: for just a couple thousand hryvnias, even a very young person can become an agent. In effect, we’re dealing with child agents — kids, teenagers — acting as operatives.

It’s a kind of evolution: first, arson attacks on military vehicles; then sabotage of critical infrastructure; tracking the movements of our defense forces; then beating people in uniform. And soon, they’ll start killing — unless we respond properly, preemptively, at the legislative level, and push back against this wave.

This is no “hooliganism.” De jure, it’s sabotage. And age doesn’t matter — because this is a second front, striking us in the back.

Mykola Kolesnyk