A phone relay capture may be the latest of Russia’s communications woes in Ukraine

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge

The Security Service of Ukraine claims to have captured a hacker who was helping to provide communications services for Russian troops inside Ukrainian territory.

Pictures of a hacker and their communications system are said to have been shown in a Telegram message posted by the SBU at around 10AM local time.

The hacker was helping to route calls from within Russia to the mobile phones of Russian troops in Ukraine, and also sending text messages to Ukrainian security officers and civil servants proposing they surrender.

Photo: Ukrainian Security Services via Twitter

Images shared by the SBU show hardware and software being used for these activities, and appear to be consistent with a relay system for voice and SMS communications.

The devices used and their significance were explained by the CTO of the company. Mc Daid said that the system was comprised of a sim box server that could switch between 128 different cards, and two gateways for connecting voice calls and text messages to a local mobile network, and unknown software to handle messaging and call forwarding.

Mc Daid said that the systems were unreliable and should not be used for military communications.

Photo: Ukrainian Security Services via Twitter

The use of civilian-grade communications systems seems to be par for the course for Russian troops. Ukrainian security forces have been intercepting messages between Russian military units since the invasion began, a feat made possible by the lack of encryption on Russian communications.

Russian troops destroyed local 3G and 4G masts early on in the invasion, which knocked out the mobile data networks that the phones rely on. With the Russian military relying on unencrypted comms, Ukrainian intelligence services were able to intercept sensitive communications and in some cases broadcast them to the world.

Images from the conflict that were shared on social media suggested that Russian troops were using unencrypted handheld radios. According to analysts at the Royal United Services Institute, there are indications that the delivery of the radios has been hampered by corruption.

The outdated and poorly maintained nature of Russian communications devices is mirrored by the condition of much of the heavy equipment being used by the Russian military, even as troops embark on crucial military operations like the assault on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. According to the Washington Post, some of the Russian tank units are using Soviet-era T-72 vehicles, a model first produced more than 50 years ago.

Despite a number of technical and logistical problems, Russian forces are heavily outnumbering the Ukrainian military, and show no signs of decreasing their assault as the war moves into a dangerous new phase.