Because of this, jamming is a frequent focus of Flash’s work. In a January publish on his Telegram channel, as an illustration, which individuals considered 48,000 instances, Flash defined how jammers utilized by some Ukrainian tanks had been truly disrupting their very own communications. “The reason for the issues shouldn’t 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 would possibly 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 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 seems to be like a 10-kilometer-long spool of fiber-optic cable connected to its rear—one notably novel technique to bypass Ukrainian jammers. “It’s actually loopy,” Flash says. “It seems to be actually unusual, however Russia confirmed us that this was doable.”
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 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 individuals are preventing on the entrance.”
Apart from the recommendation he gives to Ukrainian troops, Flash additionally publishes on-line his personal manuals for constructing and working tools that may supply safety from drones. Constructing their very own instruments will be troopers’ best choice, since Western army expertise is usually costly and home manufacturing is inadequate. Flash recommends shopping for a lot of the components on AliExpress, the Chinese language e-commerce platform, to scale back prices.
Whereas all his exercise suggests a detailed or no less than cooperative relationship between Flash and Ukraine’s army, he typically finds himself on the skin wanting in. In a publish on Telegram in Could, in addition to throughout considered one of our conferences, Flash shared considered one 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 once I talked about this to an worker of a serious digital warfare firm, who requested anonymity to discuss the delicate topic, he advised that the one cause Flash nonetheless complains about that is that the army hasn’t advised him it already exists. (Given its sensitivity, MIT Expertise Evaluate was unable to independently affirm the existence of this database.)
EMRE ÇAYLAK
This anecdote is emblematic of Flash’s frustration with a army complicated that won’t at all times need his involvement. Ukraine’s armed forces, he has advised 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 attempting to assist,” he says. “However no person 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 talk about “technical points” in any case. However he additionally admits the system shouldn’t be good and that Russians may have gained entry previously. 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. Nevertheless it 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 suppose Serhii is a Russian agent reposting Russian propaganda.”
