Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff Part Two: If Not Us Than Who: The Russian Partisans at War Against Putin
Mar 25, 2026
Charles McBride, researcher and commentator on partisan and resistance movements, shares frontline reporting on Russian anti-authoritarian networks. Short scenes cover Ruslan Siddiqui’s drone and rail sabotage, capture and torture, BOAK’s decentralized sabotage tactics, the spread of attacks across Russia, and the uneasy alliances between anarchists and nationalists fighting Putin.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Ruslan Siddiqui's Cyberpunk Sabotage
- Ruslan Siddiqui was an electrician who built pre-programmed GPS drones and remote-detonated bombs to attack Russian military targets.
- He set drone bombs at an airfield and later derailed a freight train using cameras, pepper to deter dogs, and hidden escape routes.
How A Train Derailment Led To Capture
- After derailing a freight train, Ruslan hid clothes, bike, and shoes, watched via a camera, and timed two 500g charges to avoid passenger trains.
- Investigators found a destroyed camera, flattened leaves where he hid, and poor surveillance images that eventually led to his arrest.
Torture Coexists With Partial Rule Of Law
- Torture and coerced confessions remain tools used by Russian security services, but some legal formalities persist.
- Ruslan later published his OPSEC mistakes from prison, showing both brutality and partial adherence to procedure.