Стас Юрасов War 27 May 2025, 14:54

Inside from a mobile operator: how Russian Shahed drones really use our mobile networks

After a sensational article in The Economist, where journalists told about a note with a warning that our people allegedly found in one of the downed martyrs, a lively discussion among experts broke out. Yesterday, everyone actively discussed whether it was true that Russian drones could use Ukrainian mobile networks for navigation and data transmission via Telegram bots.

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Inside from a mobile operator: how Russian Shahed drones really use our mobile networks

After a sensational article in The Economist, where journalists told about a note with a warning that our people allegedly found in one of the downed martyrs, a lively discussion among experts broke out. Yesterday, everyone actively discussed whether it was true that Russian drones could use Ukrainian mobile networks for navigation and data transmission via Telegram bots.

The mobile operators themselves did not come out into the public arena. Or they limited themselves to «dry comments» like: «Interference in the operation of electronic communications networks through subscriber SIM cards is completely excluded.»

Today, a dev.ua journalist managed to talk to a top manager of one of the cellular companies. He said that the issue of using SIM cards by drones is not public. Operators cannot comment on it openly. But he agreed to talk about what is really happening, off-the-record.

Here’s what we learned:

Indeed, some Russian drones use SIM cards on board. But thanks to big data and algorithms for tracking atypical user behavior on the network, most of them can be disconnected in advance. Although 100% efficiency, as in everything in life, is not guaranteed.
Sometimes it even happens that real Ukrainian users are mistakenly excluded on the front line due to atypical behavior.
The issue of drones with SIM cards has been analyzed at the level of the state’s military leadership for quite some time: more than two years to be exact. Many preventive measures have already been taken.
Often, the cards used by the enemy are not Ukrainian. They may be cards from friendly countries that fall into Ukrainian roaming.
Drones, using SIM cards, cannot transmit video to their operators via mobile networks. The most they are capable of is using a service channel to transmit short messages.
In 2022, large mobile operators proposed to the Ministry of Digital Affairs to register new users by passport. But the idea was not accepted. Although, to solve the problem comprehensively, this would not be enough. It is necessary to fully identify existing subscribers as well.

Recall that the day before, a large number of media outlets spread material stating that the latest models of drones are not affected by the Ukrainian electronic warfare system, since the drones no longer rely on GPS. They are supposedly guided by artificial intelligence and use the Internet of Ukrainian mobile operators.

Radio technology specialist, military engineer and engineer Sergey «Flash» Bezkrestnov stated that the «shaheeds», as before, fly based on satellite navigation signals and do not use Telegram for flights.

dev.ua has already investigated this issue in a separate article.

"Shaheeds" with Ukrainian 4G cards on board fly to us even without GPS and are guided by Telegram bots. Did The Economist write the truth?

Ukraine has created a multi-purpose drone "Batyar" with a range of over 800 km - it resembles the "Shahed"

Ukraine has created a drone that intercepts "Shaheeds". It has already destroyed 20 air targets