Here is a brief summary of what you will learn from this article:
One of Russia’s most popular generals is not actually involved in planning operations, but instead is busy renovating his cottage and buying new flats. At the same time, he managed to spread a computer virus on the equipment at the headquarters of the Russian group’s command in the Zaporizhzhia sector. He also sent his own son with a military education abroad, while sending Russian soldiers to certain death.
Hacktivists from Cyber Resistance and KibOrg managed to download a spyware virus onto the personal computer of Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk, commander of the Russian forces in the Zaporizhzhia sector in 2023. The latter distributed the malware to a number of other devices in the main headquarters of the Russian group. The surveillance operation lasted more than a year and a half and provided information about the enemy’s plans, the location of its forces and intelligence assets. Some of the material obtained was passed to the analysts of the National Resistance Center. Since the active period of the operation is over, it became possible to share a number of its details with the public.
Another motive for the publication was the rhetoric of Russian propaganda regarding Romanchuk. Some of its elements cause acute bouts of laughter among people who are informed from primary sources.
If you put together a portrait of Romanchuk from the publications of some Russian “military reporters” in the telegram, you get a real Rambo with the mind of Clausewitz or Sun Tzu, who almost personally stopped the Ukrainian offensive in the Zaporizhzhia direction in 2023.
Romanchuk receives his colonel-general’s shoulder straps from the hands of Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Gerasimov and in the presence of the then commander of the invasion forces in Ukraine Surovikin on the eve of his deployment to Zaporizhzhia region. February 2023. Photo from Romanchuk’s personal archive, which was provided to Central IResistance Center analysts
According to the publication of the Rybar channel, Romanchuk seized a tank during a business trip to Syria, “organized a fire carousel” and “pulled 40 soldiers out of the encirclement.”
Another popular channel, Children of the Arbat, adds Romanchuk to the top ten most talented Russian military commanders, and the Neighbor channel writes that Romanchuk is a key element of Russian defense in Zaporizhzhia in 2023.
With this reputation, Romanchuk was given the right to open the parade until May 9, 2024 in Moscow.
In fact, under Romanchuk’s leadership, the Russians traditionally threw cannon fodder at the front line in the Zaporizhzhia sector. This became clear in detail thanks to the publication of statistics by Captain Vyacheslav Dondokov from Buryatia, who was then heading the tactical group of the 42nd Russian medical battalion in the area.
Only one enemy tactical medical group (‘stabilization center’) received more than 1.1 thousand wounded per month. According to Ukrainian intelligence, there were at least 11 such groups in Zaporizhzhia region. This means that in 2023, Russian troops were losing more than 12,000 wounded there every month.
Did Romanchuk try to improve the situation of the soldiers and take non-standard steps by continuously studying the situation on the contact line?
The most striking discovery of the National Resistance Center analysts was that the “heroic” colonel general, while in charge of an entire direction, showed no interest in the situation at the front. There is no exaggeration here. Romanchuk literally did not deal with the matters entrusted to him. The Defense Forces had full access to Romanchuk’s personal computer and recorded all the activities when he used the device, as well as full access to the colonel general’s email and social media accounts.
Mr. Romanchuk had a very peculiar activity during working hours. Judging by his computer activity, the main part of his time was spent choosing a summer house and apartment for his family’s needs on classifieds sites…
…or the choice of girls on a dating site for private needs.
You can see more about how Romanchuk was being monitored in the video below. This is a complete record of the activities on the work computer of the commander of the Russian Armed Forces in the Zaporizhzhia direction for one day. The date is June 7, 2023. The height of the Ukrainian offensive. The commander of the Russian forces did not do anything on the computer related to the management of troops. The next day, Romanchuk would report the results of the battles to Putin personally, as reported by the Russian press.
Romanchuk and the “military reporters”
Another layer of information reveals how Romanchuk gained his reputation as a “wise general.” Most likely, by simply harassing those who disagree with him. A significant part of Romanchuk’s correspondence in the Telegram messenger is taken up by correspondence with a subscriber at +7 914 596 6919. In it, Romanchuk often expresses his opinions on certain content from the war.
A search on the phone number showed that it belonged to Roman Malyshev. He is a Russian military officer with at least the rank of captain, and, judging by the correspondence, an assistant to Romanchuk.
There is also correspondence with Roman Malyshev in Romanchuk’s mail. One of the letters demonstrates that Romanchuk is closely monitoring the “military reporters” who are hostile to him, and even demands that the “pests” be dealt with.
In particular, the channels “Two Majors” and “Thirteenth” were recognized as pests. Both of them once wrote about the mistakes of the Russian army in the Zaporizhzhia direction. Yegor Guzenko, who wrote under the pseudonym “Thirteenth”, has now been arrested for allegedly attacking a police officer.
Romanchuk and data on the location of Russian forces. Reports on pseudo-victories of the Russian army
Romanchuk himself had very little information about the actions of the Russian army in the Zaporizhzhia sector, due to his lack of interest in his own work. However, thanks to the general, he managed to gain access to other devices at the headquarters of the Russian grouping in the Zaporizhzhia sector. It is still impossible to publish the information in full. However, the Defense Forces managed to obtain maps of enemy surveillance cameras near the contact line, from which the Russians tracked the movement of units.
Information was also obtained on the locations of enemy warehouses, observation posts, and ammunition and personnel concentrations. These points were plotted on an electronic map, as in the screenshot example.
In addition to electronic maps, we were able to access photographs of detailed paper maps of the location of Russian units.
An example of a map from the headquarters of the Russian group in the Zaporizhzhia sector. The locations of Ukrainian forces marked by the Russians have been retouched.
In addition, a considerable amount of documentation on the internal activities of the Russian group’s headquarters was obtained. These are combat reports, reports and various summaries. If you read these reports, you will find that the Russian army has “no losses” and drones are shot down almost with their bare hands. Here are a few examples that have lost their relevance in terms of intelligence value.
Link: IMPLEMENTED BATTLE DOMINION of 35 A No 272/1/1672
Link: Report of the 35 A Chief of Staff on the situation as of 11.30 on 24.01.2024
A separate topic is the behavior of the “brilliant commander” in the context of mobilization in Russia. Despite the authorities’ bravura claims that only Ukraine has problems with mobilization, this is not the case. The discussion about those mobilized to repel Ukraine’s offensive in 2023 and their current situation is quite painful for the Russian state, although it does not make headlines in the state media. The echo of this problem is constantly found on the pages of the same “pest military reporters” who talk about endless cases of “utilization” of those mobilized during assaults.
Colonel-General Romanchuk’s son, Vladimir Romanchuk, was born in 1992. At 30+ years old, he is quite capable of military service, and in addition, he has received a specialized military education. However, in the summer of 2023, instead of joining the army, Romanchuk junior goes on a long vacation abroad.
During the bloody battles and losses of Russian troops in Ukraine, Romanchuk junior visits the popular Window on the World amusement park in Shenzhen, China.
He also stops for a camping trip near the magnificent Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan.
Meanwhile, those mobilized to repel the Ukrainian offensive in 2023 are still being kept in the ranks of the Russian army without any gigantic payments for signing the contract, which appeared later, and the “brilliant commander” Romanchuk is gaining more and more awards and fame.
