The Legion “Freedom of Russia” and a representative of the GUR Andrey Yusov gave a press conference and said that the fire on the ship was started by a Russian military man who is now a recruit of the Legion with the call sign “Goga.” The Russian served on the “Serpukhov” and for a long time helped the Ukrainian special services, and then organized a diversion.
“Goga” got in touch with the Legion in 2023 as an active duty member of the Baltic Fleet with a security clearance. For a long time, at the risk of his own life, he provided the Legion with important information. After his stay on the ship and further work in favor of the resistance forces became threatening, active actions were planned and carried out inside the ship. As a result of the sabotage, it was possible to destroy the ship’s premises from the inside and completely destroy the means of communication and automation.
Together with the secret documents, Gogu was taken to Ukraine.
As you know, the Serpukhov was on fire on April 7 when it was docked in the city of Baltiysk (Kaliningrad Oblast). The GUR said that the fire had completely destroyed communications and automation, so the ship’s repairs would be lengthy. They did not give any details at the time, but published a video with a plan of the ship and the moment of arson.
“The Serpukhov of the 21631 Buyan-M project is a fairly new ship. It was launched in 2015. It is armed with Kalibr and Oniks cruise missiles, which Russia uses to attack Ukraine.