Because of this, jamming is a frequent focus of Flash’s work. In a January put up on his Telegram channel, as an example, which individuals seen 48,000 instances, Flash defined how jammers utilized by some Ukrainian tanks have been truly disrupting their very own communications. “The reason for the issues will not be direct interference with the reception vary of the radio station, however very highly effective indicators from a number of [electronic warfare] antennae,” he wrote, suggesting that different tank crews experiencing the identical drawback may attempt spreading their antennas throughout the physique of the tank.
It’s all a part of an existential race by which Russia and Ukraine are always looking for new strategies of drone operation, drone jamming, and counter-jamming—and there’s no finish in sight. In March, for instance, Flash says, a frontline contact despatched him pictures of a Russian drone with what appears to be like like a 10-kilometer-long spool of fiber-optic cable hooked up to its rear—one notably novel methodology to bypass Ukrainian jammers. “It’s actually loopy,” Flash says. “It appears to be like actually unusual, however Russia confirmed us that this was attainable.”
Flash’s journeys to the entrance line make it simpler for him to trace developments like this. Not solely does he monitor Russian drone exercise from his souped-up VW, however he can research the issues that troopers face in situ and nurture relationships with individuals who could later ship him helpful intel—and even enemy gear they’ve seized. “The primary drawback is that our generals are situated in Kyiv,” Flash says. “They ship some messages to the army however don’t perceive how these army persons are preventing on the entrance.”
In addition to the recommendation he offers to Ukrainian troops, Flash additionally publishes on-line his personal manuals for constructing and working gear that may supply safety from drones. Constructing their very own instruments may be troopers’ best choice, since Western army expertise is often costly and home manufacturing is inadequate. Flash recommends shopping for a lot of the components on AliExpress, the Chinese language e-commerce platform, to cut back prices.
Whereas all his exercise suggests an in depth or a minimum of cooperative relationship between Flash and Ukraine’s army, he generally finds himself on the surface trying in. In a put up on Telegram in Could, in addition to throughout one in every of our conferences, Flash shared one in every of his biggest disappointments of the battle: the army’s refusal of his proposal to create a database of all of the radio frequencies utilized by Ukrainian forces. However after I talked about this to an worker of a significant digital warfare firm, who requested anonymity to discuss the delicate topic, he recommended that the one purpose Flash nonetheless complains about that is that the army hasn’t informed him it already exists. (Given its sensitivity, MIT Know-how Evaluation was unable to independently verify the existence of this database.)
EMRE ÇAYLAK
This anecdote is emblematic of Flash’s frustration with a army complicated that will not all the time need his involvement. Ukraine’s armed forces, he has informed me on a number of events, make no try and collaborate with him in an official method. He claims to not obtain any monetary assist, both. “I’m attempting to assist,” he says. “However no one desires to assist me.”
Each Flash and Yurii Pylypenko, one other radio fanatic who helps Flash handle his Telegram channel, say army officers have accused Flash of sharing an excessive amount of details about Ukraine’s operations. Flash claims to confirm each member of his closed Sign teams, which he says solely focus on “technical points” in any case. However he additionally admits the system will not be excellent and that Russians might have gained entry up to now. A number of of the troopers I interviewed for this story additionally claimed to have entered the teams with out Flash’s verification course of.
It’s finally tough to find out if some senior workers within the army maintain Flash at arm’s size due to his common, usually strident criticism—or whether or not Flash’s criticism is the results of being held at arm’s size. However it appears unlikely both facet’s grievances will subside quickly; Pylypenko claims that senior officers have even tried to blackmail him over his involvement in Flash’s work. “They blame my assist,” he wrote to me over Telegram, “as a result of they assume Serhii is a Russian agent reposting Russian propaganda.”
