A Russian Soldier Set Fire To A Missile Ship And Handed Over Classified Documents To Ukraine
- 31.08.2026, 12:12
The radio operator gradually carried the gasoline cans on board.
A Russian Navy sailor, who served on the missile ship “Serpukhov”, deliberately set the ship on fire, removed classified documents from it, and fled, subsequently joining the “Freedom of Russia” Legion. As a result of the sabotage, the ship was out of commission for several months and was unable to use “Kalibr” missiles against Ukraine. This was reported by Sky News.
The “Freedom of Russia” Legion was formed in 2022, shortly after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It consists of former Russian military personnel, including sailors, and the unit often coordinates its actions with the Ukrainian army. Most of the Legion’s operations remain classified.
Journalists from the publication spoke with three legion fighters about what it’s like to fight against their own country. One of the interviewees is a saboteur with the call sign Goga, who set a fire on a Russian ship.
Goga explained that from the very beginning he was categorically opposed to participating in the killing of Ukrainians, and that is precisely why he decided to desert while still on active duty in the Russian Navy.
He grew up in Kaliningrad in a military family and served as a radio operator on the “Serpukhov” — a “Buyan”-class corvette equipped with “Kalibr” and “Zircon” missiles, which Russia has repeatedly used to strike Ukrainian cities.
According to Goga, he tried to convince his fellow servicemen that the invasion was unlawful, but this resulted in him being summoned to the military prosecutor’s office and receiving an official warning. His request for discharge from the army was denied.
“After I had exhausted all possible legal avenues to resign from the military, I no longer knew what to do or how to get discharged,” he recalls.
Then, according to him, rumors began to circulate about the deployment of several ships to the combat zone for missile strikes against Ukraine—and Goga realized he had almost no time left to think it over.
Not wanting to become complicit in the killing of Ukrainians, he contacted the “Freedom of Russia” Legion and applied to join. After a lengthy exchange of correspondence and a series of checks confirming his identity and intentions, a plan was devised—to disable the ship and cross over into Ukraine.
How the Sabotage Unfolded
Constantly fearing exposure, Goga had been collecting classified documents in advance and gradually smuggling cans of gasoline onto the ship. When the plan was ready to be carried out, he sprang into action:
“I started bringing fuel into the communications compartment and pouring it over the equipment. Before that, I gathered all the classified documents and took them with me.”
After setting a timer to ignite the fire, he left the ship with the documents and took a taxi toward the border with Lithuania. Behind him, flames engulfed the ship’s command center, destroying the communications equipment—after which the ship was unable to use “Kalibr” missiles against Ukrainian targets for a long time.
When journalists asked Goga whether he had had to kill Russians after moving to Ukraine and how that made him feel, he did not answer at first. Later, he said:
“I feel nothing but relief that fewer people will die in Ukraine.”
When asked what he would say to Russian soldiers now, Goga replied briefly: “Run, you fools. You’ll die.” He added that he wants to see Russia freed from the man who has ruled it for more than two decades: “Simply put, tear down the entire system and rebuild it from scratch.”