For that reason, jamming is a frequent focus of Flash’s work. In a January publish on his Telegram channel, as an example, 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 will not be 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 drawback would possibly 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 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 photographs of a Russian drone with what seems to be 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 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 research 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 principle 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 combating on the entrance.”
Moreover the recommendation he supplies 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 could be troopers’ most suitable 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 cut back prices.
Whereas all his exercise suggests a detailed or at the least cooperative relationship between Flash and Ukraine’s army, he generally finds himself on the surface wanting in. In a publish on Telegram in Might, in addition to throughout one in every of our conferences, Flash shared one in every of his best disappointments of the struggle: 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 instructed that the one purpose Flash nonetheless complains about that is that the army hasn’t instructed him it already exists. (Given its sensitivity, MIT Know-how Assessment was unable to independently affirm the existence of this database.)
EMRE ÇAYLAK
This anecdote is emblematic of Flash’s frustration with a army advanced that won’t all the time need his involvement. Ukraine’s armed forces, he has instructed me on a number of events, make no try to collaborate with him in an official method. He claims to not obtain any monetary help, both. “I’m attempting to assist,” he says. “However no person needs 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 employees within the army 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. 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 assume Serhii is a Russian agent reposting Russian propaganda.”