280
0
British soldiers have been warned that Russian spies may fly drones over British military bases to obtain information about Ukrainian troops. Russian special services have shown "significant" interest in Operation "Interflex" - the code name for the training of 34 Ukrainian recruits, writes The Times with reference to the instructions distributed among British military personnel.
It is noted that in addition to flying drones over military bases, Russian agents contacted army instructors both online and in person for information: “The government takes the security of our military facilities very seriously. There are a number of reliable measures to protect our people and facilities," said the spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense.
The report states that there are real threats of espionage and subversion associated with the training of the Armed Forces in Great Britain.
According to journalists, the "Field Army Threats Guide" published in October of last year for the first time describes in detail Moscow's attempts to penetrate the military support of Ukraine by Great Britain. It is stated there that the Russian special services regularly use a number of physical intelligence tools and technical capabilities to gather information, in particular, about the training of personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“Tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) include the use of remotely piloted aircraft, mobile and foot surveillance, virtual and physical approaches to training service providers, as well as interest from investigative journalists... Vulnerable sites are training sites, air port of disembarkation, the sea port of disembarkation, as well as key locations and logistics facilities," the manual says.
It also states that soldiers who train the Ukrainian military must be especially attentive to "credible" threats of Russian espionage: "The training of the Armed Forces remains a subject of significant intelligence interest for enemy foreign intelligence services and the national press," the authors write.
The newspaper's Defense Department sources said there was "little evidence" of drones being used to spy on exercises. There, it was suggested that the manual was written to warn soldiers of the risks. But the warnings of the British army bear a striking resemblance to the methods of Russian espionage in other European countries. Germany admitted that Ukrainian soldiers were being watched by unknown drones during the exercises. Since the end of last year, Poland has arrested 18 people on suspicion of planning arson and sabotage on behalf of Russia and Belarus.
The British Army uses training grounds across the country to train Ukrainian servicemen. Most Ukrainians take a basic 35-day course. But some more experienced Ukrainian servicemen have completed specialized courses.
War is the latest news
The total combat losses of the enemy among personnel since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, as of the morning of August 5, approximately amounted to 584 thousand 90 people. During the past day, the Defense Forces destroyed 1 Russian invaders. This was announced by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On August 4, on the 20th anniversary of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukraine officially confirmed the receipt of American F-16 fighter jets. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed the first Western-made Ukrainian combat aircraft on video.
