2024-02-20 03:14:43
“Brew five Chinese tea bags for 38 and for the color orange. The 50-member intelligence unit, nicknamed the Rabbits of Cherkessk, listens to hours of Russian communications every day, which they try to decipher. “Prepare five Beijing-made artillery shells and fire them at specific Ukrainian positions in the Serebryan Forest,” soldier Mikhass explains the meaning of the coded sentence from the beginning.
“Cucumbers” means mortars, “carrots” is code for grenade launchers. Ukrainians decipher Russian messages | Video: Associated Press
“Cucumbers” means mortars, “carrots” is code for grenade launchers. The Russians then communicate the specific positions of the soldiers with a numerical code and the corresponding color. It took the unit several months to decipher this information.
“There is information about the arrival of new Russian vehicles, new ammunition deliveries or new gas stations. If we have information that their recruited convicts have arrived, we know that there will be an attack soon,” Mikhass describes, adding that only thanks to this information, the Ukrainians can to win the war.
After the soldier deciphers the coded information, he immediately warns the commander of the unit to which a potential enemy attack is concerned. He can then use the decisive minutes to get his men into the trenches and thus save their lives.
Thanks to this decryption work, which is often time-consuming and laborious, soldiers can be warned earlier of impending attacks. At the same time, the information gathered from the battlefield can help them make their own strikes more effective.
The unit is assisted in intercepting Russian radio signals by a carousel-like antenna that it has placed in a forest near the town of Kreminna in the Luhansk region, not far from Russian positions. The device detects where the radio waves are coming from using triangulation (a method that allows distance measurements by measuring angles).
Soldiers try to decipher the messages in the basement of the command center. They listen to individual pieces of information, which they compare with images they get from reconnaissance drones. Using detailed maps with enemy positions marked and specialized computer software, they piece together what the messages might mean.
Radio intercepts show that the Kremlin is determined to control the entire Serebryan forest. It separates Ukrainian-controlled Lyman from Russian-occupied Kreminna. The effort to recapture the village of Torske in Donetsk, which lies west of Kreminna, is also related to this.
The new Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyj, emphasized the importance of electronic warfare. That is why the Ukrainians are now emphasizing better monitoring, eavesdropping and signal jamming.
The electronic warfare unit of the 93rd Brigade in the city of Konstantinivka in the Donetsk region, on the other hand, uses drone jammers. Platoon leader Oleksandr monitors the signals on his laptop, which are picked up by small antennas deployed near the front line.
When a Russian attack drone, such as a Lancet, approaches this unit’s area of operation, Oleksandr’s screen lights up. The commander then flips the switch and activates the jammer – it works on the same principle as when you shine a bright light in someone’s eyes to disorient them.