For that reason, jamming is a frequent focus of Flash’s work. In a January put up on his Telegram channel, as an example, which individuals considered 48,000 occasions, Flash defined how jammers utilized by some Ukrainian tanks had been truly disrupting their very own communications. “The reason for the issues isn’t direct interference with the reception vary of the radio station, however very highly effective alerts from a number of [electronic warfare] antennae,” he wrote, suggesting that different tank crews experiencing the identical downside may strive spreading their antennas throughout the physique of the tank.
It’s all a part of an existential race during which Russia and Ukraine are consistently attempting to find 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 like a 10-kilometer-long spool of fiber-optic cable hooked up to its rear—one notably novel technique to bypass Ukrainian jammers. “It’s actually loopy,” Flash says. “It appears actually unusual, however Russia confirmed us that this was potential.”
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 examine the issues that troopers face in situ and nurture relationships with individuals who might later ship him helpful intel—and even enemy tools they’ve seized. “The primary downside is that our generals are situated in Kyiv,” Flash says. “They ship some messages to the navy however don’t perceive how these navy individuals are preventing on the entrance.”
In addition to the recommendation he supplies to Ukrainian troops, Flash additionally publishes on-line his personal manuals for constructing and working tools that may provide safety from drones. Constructing their very own instruments will be troopers’ best choice, since Western navy 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 not less than cooperative relationship between Flash and Ukraine’s navy, he typically finds himself on the surface trying in. In a put up on Telegram in Could, in addition to throughout considered one of our conferences, Flash shared considered one of his best disappointments of the struggle: the navy’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 prompt that the one motive Flash nonetheless complains about that is that the navy hasn’t informed him it already exists. (Given its sensitivity, MIT Know-how Evaluation was unable to independently affirm the existence of this database.)
EMRE ÇAYLAK
This anecdote is emblematic of Flash’s frustration with a navy advanced 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 to collaborate with him in an official method. He claims to not obtain any monetary assist, both. “I’m making an attempt to assist,” he says. “However no one needs to assist me.”
Each Flash and Yurii Pylypenko, one other radio fanatic who helps Flash handle his Telegram channel, say navy 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 isn’t good and that Russians may 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 navy maintain Flash at arm’s size due to his common, typically strident criticism—or whether or not Flash’s criticism is the results of being held at arm’s size. But it surely appears unlikely both aspect’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.”
