Russian cyber war in Ukraine

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https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/02/15/10-days-in…

**LETTER FROM DONBAS**
**‘Kill Your Commanding Officer’: On the Front Lines of Putin’s Digital War With Ukraine**

**For years, the Russians have used Ukraine as a proving ground for a new type of digital warfare. Is the West ready?**
**By Kenneth R. Rosen, Politico, 02/15/2022**

**...**

**On July 11, 2014, in the town of Zelenopillya, roughly five miles from the Ukrainian border with Russia, the brigade had planned to sever the supply line of the Donbas separatists when electronic warfare caught them by surprise. Witnesses described the scene to me: First there came the humming of an unmanned aerial vehicle able to clone cellular networks to locate active cellphones, followed by cyberattacks against Ukrainian command and control systems. Their communication systems disabled, Ukrainian forces were unable to coordinate with one another. Then, short-range rocket systems from inside Russia disabled two battalions, including T-64 tanks and amphibious tracked vehicles. Three trucks carrying troops exploded. Stumbling from the transport, one soldier clutched his entrails, and shouted for his mother. The attack killed 30 Ukrainians and wounded hundreds and lasted roughly two minutes....**

**Russian-supported forces can deploy personalized propaganda and location tracking thanks to its use of UAVs but also its control of cellphone towers and the cellular companies that provide coverage to much of Ukraine.**

**Meanwhile, the Russian military has relocated more electronic warfare equipment to the borders with Ukraine, such as the Leer-3 RB-341V, a drone-based system that can monitor cellular and data transmission networks, suppress wireless communications, locate electromagnetic emission sources and even send text messages to front-line soldiers....** [end quote]

Cyberattacks large and small, outright control of electronic infrastructure, disinformation on a huge scale…hybrid warfare joining cyber war and physical war. Ukraine is a proving ground for a type of warfare which makes it vulnerable at many levels.

DH and I just watched “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” on Netflix. It’s a documentary with original footage about the 2013-2014 popular uprising against the failure of Viktor Yanukovych’s government to sign a deal with the European Union. There’s little context or explanation but it’s clear that the Ukrainians can cohere and fight in a cause they believe in.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_on_Fire:_Ukraine%27s_Fi…

Not that they have a chance against the Russian army, not to mention crippling cyberattacks.

Wendy

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Not that they have a chance against the Russian army, not to mention crippling cyberattacks.

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Ukrainians most certainly will inflict major damage to Russian troops. They have the homeland advantage and they are as good as Russians soldiers. Russian troops have not been battle tested for year, Ukraine soldiers are battle tested as they have been fighting since 2014 in Luhansk and Donetsk. They have plenty of soldiers. What they do not have is all the artillery, tanks, missiles, airpower and other weapons that Russia would bring to the invasion.

Russia is afraid of the NATO forces armed to the teeth waiting on the sidelines.

Ukraine and NATO can also use cyber attacks against Russia.

Jaak

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Ukrainians have no chance in an old-fashioned “stand and fight” battle since they don’t have the tanks, rockets and air attack capability of the Russians.

They may hold the Russians off in urban warfare but that will be extremely destructive to Ukrainian cities. (YouTube videos of the Donbas show this.) The Ukrainian population thinks of themselves as Europeans. The violence and destruction will be terrible if they fight. Fighting in one’s homeland is tragically deadly, as the Russians suffered when the Nazis invaded.

Wendy

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Ukrainians have no chance in an old-fashioned “stand and fight” battle since they don’t have the tanks, rockets and air attack capability of the Russians.

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I happen to disagree. Here is a look at the Ukrainian tanks:

According to a GlobalData 2021 equipment inventory of Ukrainian military equipment, the country currently owns approximately 12,300 armoured vehicles, of which about 2,550 are tanks. On a world scale, these figures rank Ukraine sixth and 13th, respectively. This includes main battle tanks, light tanks and tank destroyers.

The most notable Ukrainian tank is perhaps the T-64 main battle tank (MBT), of which the country has 720. The Ukrainian Kharkiv Locomotive Factory designed and produced the T-64 and it entered service during the Cold War in 1966.

The vehicle was a massive leap from the then respected T-55 and T-62 models. The T-64 is fitted with the Kontakt-1 reactive armour which covers the particularly vulnerable areas of the tank. Upgrades from previous models include a better diesel engine and the replacement of personnel-operated loaders with an autonomous device.

Today, the T-64s are technologically superior to most of their Russian counterparts.

https://www.army-technology.com/features/russia-ukraine-tank…

Care to change your statement?

Jaak

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Russia can, and will, use missiles to destroy command & control. And without that, most of those tanks will not be used effectively.

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Ukraine and NATO can also use cyber attacks against Russia.

What about attacks against the US? It was just nine months ago that Colonial Pipeline suffered an attack that disabled the flow of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

DB2

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Russia can, and will, use missiles to destroy command & control. And without that, most of those tanks will not be used effectively.

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So far Russia has not destroyed Ukrainian command and control.

Jaak