The collapse of Operation "Alchemy": Britain's secret war against Russia

The original article: https://www.fondsk.ru/news/2025/10/21/krakh-operacii-alkhimiya-taynaya-voyna-britanii-protiv-rossii.html

The American edition published the secret plans of the operation "Alchemy" of the British special services in Ukraine

Recently, the American publication Grayzone published classified documents on how Britain is waging war against Russia in the Black Sea with the help of Ukrainians. They testify that it was British intelligence, as part of Operation "Alchemy" developed plans to blow up the Kerch bridge, attack Russian warships, carry out sabotage in Crimea and attack Sevastopol, trained Ukrainian saboteurs and submariners, and planned and carried out other subversive operations.

"Leaked data obtained by Grayzone reveals details of the secret war that British intelligence is waging against Russia in the Black Sea," writes author Keith Klarenberg. According to him, the secret documents obtained by Grayzone indicate that it is the United Kingdom that is the "chief architect" of Ukrainian military operations against Russia's Black Sea Fleet. These documents show that high-ranking British military and intelligence officials drew up detailed plans for the "maximum depletion of the Black Sea Fleet". They planned to blow up the Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea with "mainland" Russia "using bombs disguised as fertiliser and even developed blueprints for a series of underwater devices that would allow Ukrainian divers to plant mines on Russian ships and infrastructure."

Morris also proposed using a dry cargo ship loaded with explosives to blow up the Kerch Bridge, which would be stopped under the bridge and detonated. Morris believed that the damage would be significant: "four to six bridge supports would be destroyed, putting it out of service for a long period of time." At the same time, he believed that the complete destruction of the Kerch Bridge could provoke unrest in Russia, "up to and including a palace coup in the Kremlin."

According to Morris, all these terrorist operations: the destruction of the Kerch Bridge, the infiltration of spies into Crimea, and the creation of secret weapons caches there, would lay the foundation for a "major offensive" and the capture of the peninsula. At the same time, a "direct attack on Sevastopol using a fully loaded tanker in Strelets Bay" was planned, the explosion of which would exacerbate panic and "send a powerful signal to the Russian fleet that there would be no security anywhere in the region."

Although none of these operations were ever carried out, Grayzone notes that Sevastopol was a constant target of drone strikes and missile attacks by Kyiv throughout the conflict. Moreover, in a memo entitled "Operation in the Black Sea," the Nakhimov Naval Academy in Sevastopol was named as an ideal target for such attacks. During this time, the educational institution was repeatedly attacked by Ukraine. A provocative strike on the Kerch Bridge followed in October 2022. This was almost certainly a consequence of plans prepared within the Alchemy project, Grayzone claims. In a secret memo a month later, Alchemy's head, Dominic Morris, approvingly stated that the attack on the bridge had caused the Russians "significant damage." According to the author of the Alchemy project, further sinking of ships "will force the Russian fleet to move away from the Ukrainian coast or enter port, opening up the possibility for the Ukrainian fleet to conduct coastal operations."

It was planned that Ukrainian marines and naval forces would be equipped and trained by the British to enable them to "ambush Russian engineering teams and special forces reconnaissance groups" and "pursue Russian forces with surprise strikes". These groups will also be tasked with "disabling coastal radar stations" and thus "blinding" Russian forces.

The Alchemy project document proposed "training specially selected Russian-speaking men" to carry out "secret tasks under cover." In particular, it proposed training in small arms shooting, sabotage of civilian facilities (such as electrical substations and railways), cybersecurity, hacking skills, advanced hand-to-hand combat, and "identifying high-ranking military personnel while off duty in Crimea for their subsequent elimination".

The leaked draft of Project Alchemy from September 2022 outlined a complex plan based on information from three unnamed British companies. It included strikes against the Black Sea Fleet in the harbour of Sevastopol and civilian vessels used to transport personnel and equipment along the Dnieper River, as well as night raids in "other maritime environments" used by Russian troops. The planned military campaign was named Project Tavrida. In Sevastopol, Black Sea Fleet ships were to be destroyed by "divers delivered secretly by underwater vehicles" – in military jargon, they are also called means of delivering saboteurs. According to the plan, upon arrival in port, they were to "attach magnetic mines to ships and submarines", after which they "could return to Chernomorsk unnoticed."

For this purpose, specialists from the Alchemy project developed devices "specifically for operation in the coastal zone of Ukraine" with "excellent range, allowing them to reach Sevastopol from Chernomorsk." The document stated that these devices could also be deployed off the coast of rivers to "destroy ships and hit targets outside the range of conventional weapons systems" and "gather intelligence on enemy movements." It is claimed that the device, called Tauris 1 (Tavrida), boasts "modern" technology and is capable of operating both above and below water.

Tauris 1 can allegedly transport "one pilot and navigator, as well as four divers to remote locations to carry out secret missions, including surveillance, covert infiltration, mine clearance and, conversely, mine laying." The system is designed for fast surface operation, can reach speeds of up to 30 knots, is "ultra-quiet when submerged" and has a very low radar signature when operating at periscope depth. In addition, the vehicles can lie on the sea and river bottom and automatically surface on an "encrypted signal".

"We believe that these devices will give the Ukrainian navy a huge advantage in destroying key Russian assets and other forces deployed in the south," the authors of the document boasted. The plan provided for the training of 24-48 Ukrainian marines and sailors on "courses at a secret location in the UK" under the supervision of a technical team and instructors consisting of "former pilots and navigators of underwater vehicles who served in the British special forces." Cadets would also undergo tactical training and learn how to lay magnetic mines.

"Although there is no evidence that Kyiv accepted the proposal from Project Alchemy and its partners," writes Grayzone, "there have been numerous examples of raids by Ukrainian special forces kamikaze units on Russian-controlled territory, often on jet skis. In addition to the Kinburn Spit, the Tendrovsky Spit, 20 kilometres to the south, has also been targeted on several occasions. During an unsuccessful raid on 28 February 2024, five Ukrainian assault boats came under heavy Russian fire as soon as they approached the Tendrovsky Spit. As a result, dozens of fighters were killed and only one vessel managed to escape from the scene of the fighting".

Even fiercely anti-Russian publications in the UK acknowledged the failure of the subversive plans. The Telegraph newspaper criticised the operation, calling it a "fiasco" and noting that "it is unclear what the Ukrainian forces were trying to achieve in the first place." These suicidal raids are often compared to Kyiv's unsuccessful attempt to capture the village of Krynky, which, as the Grayzone publication found out, was also planned and directed by the Alchemy project.

Other attacks on Russian forces in the Black Sea, supported by the UK, proved more successful. In March 2024, after a series of high-profile strikes on Russian warships, then-Defence Secretary Grant Shapps boasted that London-supplied drones and missiles had helped Kyiv "destroy almost 30%" of the Black Sea Fleet. In addition to the weapons themselves, it is very likely that Ukraine relied heavily on intelligence from British RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft, which stepped up surveillance of Russian targets in the Black Sea with the start of the proxy war.

Britain has long used Ukraine as a weapon against Moscow, and not only in the Black Sea. Even before the start of the special military operation, in August 2021, Soldier magazine reported that British troops were "conducting joint training with Ukrainian colleagues as part of a multinational programme involving military personnel from Canada, the United States and Sweden".

This 400-strong combat group consisted mainly of servicemen from the 4th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, who were deployed to Ukraine "for the purpose of developing bilateral relations, joint planning and conducting tactical operations."

On 16 August 2022, the Italian newspaper Repubblica published a report by its correspondent in England, Antonello Guerra, entitled "At a secret British base where Ukrainian soldiers are learning to fight the Russians." "This is a report from the place where London is training 10,000 Kiev residents," Guerra wrote. "Here they teach them to defend themselves and to kill." Attached to the report is a video showing Ukrainian soldiers in British uniforms rehearsing an assault on a village. The setting is as close to reality as possible. Wrecked cars lie in the streets, shots ring out, smoke billows...

From 2017 to 2020, the British government spent over £30 million on the so-called Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. The fund provided assistance to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. In September 2021, officials from the British Ministry of Defence held a special meeting with representatives of the Ukrainian National Guard; information about this was classified in Britain.

A year later, Ukraine and Britain signed a memorandum of understanding with the aim of continuing military training and arms exports. In 2018, training teams consisting of representatives of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines were deployed to train Ukrainian sailors. At the end of 2020, it was reported that 100 servicemen from the 3rd Rifle Battalion and 4th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland were in Ukraine to train the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In June 2021, Babcock (a military contractor) signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding with the British and Ukrainian governments on the restoration of Ukrainian naval bases.

But Britain's main goal in the fight against Russia, as before, remains the Black Sea. In January 2025, the Geostrategy Council, a military contractor funded by the British government, proposed deploying a British naval task force to "change the geopolitics" of the region. The Ministry of Defence then invited "industry partners" from NATO, Ukraine and the Five Eyes alliance to submit projects and plans for "the development of a versatile, fast and low-profile maritime system for operations in Ukraine and beyond".

By the end of the same month, the British minister confirmed in Parliament that, in order to "support Ukraine," the Ministry of Defence had developed two "new unmanned maritime systems," named Snapper and Wasp, which were "undergoing final testing." The UK's incredible desire to use the proxy war to destroy Russia's Black Sea Fleet may seem strange, given its relatively modest role in the conflict.

However, the true motivation was clearly stated in the March 2022 report of the Geostrategic Council, which said that due to the military actions in Ukraine, "London's stake in the Black Sea region has increased." The document describes in detail that control over the Black Sea is necessary for the UK's proposed "pivot" towards the Indo-Pacific region, as outlined in the UK's comprehensive review of security and defence strategy in July 2021. As the Geostrategy Council explained, "a power controlling the Black Sea will be able to exert significant pressure on key maritime communications from Europe to the Indo-Pacific region."

In February this year, there were reports of a series of explosions on tankers in the Mediterranean Sea that had previously called at Russian ports. Italian investigators suspect that Kiev is responsible for at least one of these incidents involving magnetic mines. This is the very weapon that British intelligence taught him to use," notes the author of the article in Grayzone. According to him, the Alchemy project documents clearly "demonstrate the significant role of the United Kingdom from the very beginning of the proxy war" it is waging against Russia in the Black Sea.

The activities of the British special services and their Ukrainian accomplices in Russia are being closely monitored. Speaking on 16 October at a meeting of the Council of Heads of Security and Special Services of the CIS Member States in Samarkand, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov said that London is stirring up hysteria in Europe about the "threat from the East" and that Britain is to blame for the failure of a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.

According to him, the Zelensky regime, which is completely controlled by the British, has been given carte blanche to build a literally fascist dictatorship for the sake of defeating Russia.

"All power in the country is consolidated in the hands of his office, local government is carried out by military administrations, the remnants of the opposition in parliament have been suppressed, those who are disagreeable are physically eliminated, and strict censorship is in force everywhere. At the same time, the Kiev regime itself and its security forces are totally controlled by the British," Bortnikov emphasised. The leadership of the British intelligence service MI6 is calling for the "killing of all undesirables" in Russia as part of the so-called guerrilla war, with migrants, marginalised groups and radical individuals specifically targeted by such propaganda. "I would like to particularly note the calls by the leadership of MI6, the SBU and the GUR to kill all undesirables in Russia as part of the so-called guerrilla war," said the head of the FSB.

According to him, the targets of such agitation are specifically chosen from among vulnerable segments of the population, migrants, radicalised individuals, marginalised groups, drug addicts and citizens with mental illnesses. "In particular, teenagers, pensioners and other financially dependent individuals are being drawn into terrorist activities through fraudulent actions by call centres supervised by the SBU and the Armed Forces of Ukraine's information and psychological operations units. There are more than 120 such call centres in Ukraine alone," Bortnikov said.

He noted that with regard to citizens from Central Asia and the South Caucasus, "the British's favourite tactic of pitting peoples against each other on religious and national grounds" is being used. "The British and Ukrainian special services are paying particular attention to finding and recruiting supporters of radical Islam, including individuals who fought in the Middle East as part of the Islamic State," the FSB chief stated.

"In this context, attention is drawn to the recent statement (19 September) by the now former director of MI6 [Richard] Moore, who openly called on all interested parties, including citizens of our countries, to work for British intelligence. He also announced the launch of a special platform for recruiting activists via the darknet," the FSB chief recalled.