Hackers Infiltrate Russian Drone Teams Via Cell Tower Chats

For six months, Ukrainian cybersecurity experts secretly watched Russian drone operators plan their attacks. The hackers had penetrated the invaders' internal communication channels. The opportunity came because Russian forces used mobile internet from Belarusian cellular networks to control their long-range drones. By monitoring these networks, Ukrainian specialists located the operators and then hacked into their online chatrooms. Inside these chats, the teams coordinated strikes on Ukrainian power plants. The Ukrainians saw everything in real time: launch orders, flight paths, and target coordinates. This intelligence was immediately fed to Ukrainian air defense forces, allowing them to intercept many of the incoming drones. The operation reveals a critical vulnerability in Russia's use of civilian telecom infrastructure for military attacks. It also shows how Ukraine's digital defenders are turning the invaders' tools against them.