All the details of the DIU's special operation "Barynya" that made Russian lieutenant defect to the side of Ukraine, poaching 11 more soldiers. Video

Ukrainian military intelligence conducted a successful special operation codenamed "Barynya". It resulted in the defection of a career Russian military officer, Lieutenant Daniil Alfyorov of the Russian Armed Forces.

He was able to poach 11 other Russian servicemen. This was stated by a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, at a meeting with journalists, an OBOZREVATEL correspondent reports.

Yusov reported on the successful implementation of the special operation "Barynya", which was conducted by the DIU. As a result, a career officer of the Russian army, Daniil Alfyorov, who transferred 11 Russian servicemen to Ukraine, defected to Ukraine.

This Russian officer, as part of the 26th Regiment, 3rd Motorized Rifle Battalion, 5th Motorized Rifle Company, was in the occupied part of the Kherson region.

The reason that prompted Alfyorov to defect to Ukraine was his unwillingness to participate in the war. According to Yusov, the lieutenant was taken out of Russia after a real threat to his life arose.

It was the first time that Alfyorov voluntarily decided to reveal his identity and wanted to speak publicly about his actions and motives.

He stated that he had been educated at a military school in Moscow and graduated from it. He was assigned to a military unit in Dagestan. There, the Russian serviceman claims, he finally became disillusioned with the Russian army because of "disorder, unfair treatment of officers, especially junior officers, overtime, non-payment," and so on.

"My dismissal did not go without problems. There was a policy of retaining officers even before the war because there was a staff shortage, not to mention soldiers, warrant officers and sergeants. So my release was not easy. I was arrested by the military police 20 times, there was also a criminal case against me. I had to seek help from military lawyers. Only after that I was released from the army without any losses," he said.

After his release, Alfyorov said he tried to find himself in civilian life. He studied to become a radio host and thought about mastering the profession of a translator. To do this, he studied Chinese, Japanese, German, and English. He dreamed of traveling and eventually leaving Russia forever.

However, all his plans were ruined by Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine.

"I was categorically against it. I did not understand why it started... It was a complete shock for me. I knew that Ukraine had never been an enemy. And I didn't watch or listen to any propaganda after my release," Alfyorov said.

However, the experience of serving in the army, in particular in Dagestan, where "a counterterrorist operation was conducted," closed the way for Alfyorov to travel abroad. After his discharge from the army, he was banned from leaving the country for two years. He tried to leave Russia after the announcement of partial mobilization but was unable to leave his sick mother.

In 2022, Alfyorov managed to avoid mobilization. In winter 2023, he was summoned to the military commissariat. He was met by the military commissar of Shchelkovo and an FSB "personality".

"To put it mildly, they forced me to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense. I did not want to fight or kill. I was against the war from the very beginning, because the war unleashed by Putin is unjust in any way. I think Putin is a murderer, he has deprived thousands of Ukrainians of their homes, so I feel infinitely sorry for the Ukrainian people. I think it's unfair. So many deaths and so much grief because our 'tsar' has gone mad. There are no words to describe how unfair it is," Alfyorov said.

The sense of injustice prompted the Russian lieutenant to accept the offer of cooperation from the Ukrainian side. Initially, he would provide intelligence.

"I agreed, and as I moved to the front line, I cooperated by sending some information and supporting photos. Anything that would help to collect operational and tactical information about the movement of troops," the Russian serviceman said.

In early August, according to Alfyorov, his unit was transferred to the Kherson region. He spoke about the problems of Russian troops in detail, both with ammunition and with the occupiers' motivation to fight, which has significantly decreased after huge losses.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Alfyorov agreed to the intelligence proposal, which was to convince the occupiers to surrender to the Ukrainian army.

"They (Ukrainian intelligence - Ed.) offered me to send military personnel, I mean fighters, to surrender. They said they would have guarantees under the "I Want to Live" program. At first, I thought about it for a very long time. Before I was tied to a tree overnight, I managed to poach three groups, 11 people in total. I will not name specific places, times, and dates, because this is operational work. In total, I managed to bring out 11 people," the soldier said.

At some point, he said, they began to suspect Alfyorov. That's why he was tied to a tree overnight and then sent to the Kherson islands, from where, as the Russian notes, it was very difficult to return alive and unharmed. That's when he decided to use the I Want to Live program himself.

"I didn't know what to do. Before going to the islands, I contacted my curator from the I Want to Live program and told him that I was going to the previously specified place and that I would be going out without a radio and so on. I asked them to wait for me. It took me about two days to get out of the islands. The path was difficult because I had no escort. But I knew the place where I had to go. I miraculously remained safe because the drones were flying everywhere... I did not know which route would be safer. In the end, I managed to get to the special forces, who met me and then took me to the right bank. After that, I went through the procedures prescribed for surrender," the Russian lieutenant told the story of his rescue.

He surrendered to Ukrainian soldiers on September 3.

Alfyorov has a mother and a brother back in Russia. He did not have time to marry.

The soldier said that he was very afraid for his family, who remained in Russia. But he could not influence the development of events.

His family does not know that he is in the government-controlled territory of Ukraine. Daniil hopes that his brother will support his decision. As for his mother, he believes she will be happy that her son is alive. He also hopes she will understand why he did what he did.

Alfyorov himself does not plan to link his future with Russia and has publicly volunteered to fight against the Putin regime on the side of Ukraine.

"Operation Barynya is far from our only operation that you will hear about shortly. Similar operations are being conducted and will be conducted in the future. DIU is working," Yusov summarized.

The data on the occupants eliminated during the operation "Titmouse" with Mi-8 appeared. During this operation, a Russian pilot drove a Russian Armed Forces helicopter with spare parts for Russian fighters to the territory of Ukraine.

Two other crew members who were unaware of the operation and tried to resist were eliminated. The pilot himself was rewarded for the transferred aircraft, and his family was evacuated from Russia to safety.

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