"GUR Island" - a book about the secrets of Ukrainian intelligence

On January 20, the book "GUR Island. Secrets. Operations. War" was presented in Kyiv.

The book, dedicated to Ukrainian military intelligence, became a bestseller at Yakaboo immediately after its release.

Thus, the Library section includes the booksOver the Black Sea by Ivan Nechuy-Levytskyi,Crimean Tatar Families andMy Grandmothers Did Not Live to See the War by Yevhenia Henova, andNonfictional Stories of the Odesa Tram by Dmytro Zhdanov, "Without Wings by Natalia Kondratenko , Something by Andriy Hayetsky, 10 Conversations about the Ancient History of Ukraine by Andriy Krasnozhen and Oleksandr Krasovytsky , and the collection MiraclesAround by Leonid Franceskevych, and we are adding Maksym Butchenko 's book GUR Island. Secrets. Operations. War" by Maksym Butchenko.

PHOTO: Yakaboo Publishing House

Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov wrote the foreword to the reader.

"Among the pages you will find answers to questions that would never have been asked otherwise," said the moderator of the event, writer Andriy Kokotiukha, at the presentation.

In the book, the author tells about the people and decisions that influenced the course of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

"I have been working on this book, which is based on the live testimonies of current and former intelligence officers, for two years. And I am very grateful to the DIU employees with whom I communicated for making this idea come true," said Maksym Butchenko.

The narrative focuses on special operations behind enemy lines, the defense of Kyiv, the battle for Hostomel, the use of marine drones, strikes over thousands of kilometers, and intelligence work in the temporarily occupied territories.

The publication contains unique testimonies of current and former military intelligence officers. Most of them cannot give their names due to the specifics of their service.

The author also noted that he knew the details of certain operations before they were completed, but he never wrote or spoke about them publicly.

It is this immediate relevance, he said, that distinguishes the book from well-known Western publications about intelligence services, including the Mossad, which deal with events twenty or thirty years ago or even earlier.

"Despite the fact that the activities of military intelligence have traditionally remained out of the public eye, this book carefully and responsibly pulls back the veil of secrecy. It allows the reader to look into the world of covert operations, agent work and highly complex missions that seemed impossible but were successfully implemented," said Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

In the foreword to the book, the then Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov wrote:

"This book is about our military intelligence, about its formation in the times of modern Ukraine, about the DIU servicemen, about the heroism of our intelligence officers during the Russian-Ukrainian war, starting from 2014. In this difficult time for our nation, state and every Ukrainian, I am honored to lead the country's main intelligence agency. I am honored to work together with my fellow intelligence officers in a unit capable of performing the most difficult combat missions.

Long before I was appointed to this responsible position, I was absolutely convinced that a great war with our eternal enemy Russia was inevitable. After all, an empire of slaves cannot exist peacefully next to a country of free people. It was the Ukrainian intelligence that was among the first to report many months before the full-scale invasion about the approaching bloody battle for our Independence, for our State, for our lives.

The country of free people, the army of courageous warriors, the society that had been fighting for its dignity for centuries, proved to be too much for the bloodthirsty army of the Kremlin Fuhrer. It was Ukrainian intelligence officers who have always been at the forefront of the fight against the Russian enemy. The author of this book pays special attention to the special operations of the DIU fighters during the full-scale invasion.

The battles of our Special Forces reconnaissance men on land, at sea and in the sky, on the front line and deep behind enemy lines, in the information and cyberspace - all this is on the pages of the book you are holding in your hands.

The author tells about the battles for Gostomel and the defense of Kyiv, the story of the creation of the world's first unmanned fleet, which forced the Russian Black Sea Fleet to flee to the Caucasus coast, unique operations to shoot down Russian helicopters and airplanes with Magura surface drones, and the unique operations to shoot down Russian helicopters and Magura underwater drones, the destruction of legitimate military targets by UAVs even 2000 kilometers from the front line, as well as the actions of Ukrainian intelligence officers against Russian war criminals and collaborators in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and even in faraway Africa, where Russian occupiers have also stuck their bloody hands.

The heroes and main narrators of the book are Ukrainian intelligence officers: veterans and active servicemen. During the war, not all of them can reveal their real names. The majority of them only disclose their call signs to the public. This is the specificity of intelligence work. After Ukraine's victory, we will hear all the real names of our Heroes and pay them the honor our people deserve.

The book depicts many glorious stories from the DIU's activities, many operations carried out by our Special Forces men that have no analogues in the world. The author covers them truthfully, with maximum attention to detail. It should be noted that most of the actions of the Ukrainian military intelligence still remain secret due to the restrictions caused by the full-scale war.

The book reveals the main feature of Ukrainian military intelligence - its extraordinary organizational and technological modernity and flexibility. Because war requires new and advanced approaches in literally all components, from the organization of intelligence and combat units, their training, support, weapons and technological equipment, to the introduction, rethinking and development of modern methods of warfare.

Today, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine consists of a large number of units and has many components. It is a living and dynamic organism that is constantly learning, improving and developing. Our progress never stands still. New operations are being prepared on the Island, new insidious surprises for the enemy.

No one and nothing will stop Ukrainian reconnaissance men. We sincerely believe in our country, our people, our sworn brothers and our inevitable Ukrainian victory"...

Володимир Шкаєв