Ігор Вишневський War
14 July 2026, 09:00
2026-07-14
How the use of a phone number cut off thousands of Ukrainian soldiers from regular electronic services and what to do about it
«I heard a legend that in ancient times, before the Great War, you could call each other on your mobile phone and talk without the Internet or instant messengers,» Sergey «Flash» Beskrestnov, an advisor to the Minister of Defense, once wrote on social media.
In the comments to this post, he explained that, like many thousands of Ukrainian servicemen, he has a systematic problem with online stores, banks, government agencies, and utilities. «They call my mobile, but for me it has been ‘not available’ since the beginning of the war,» added «Flash.»
«I heard a legend that in ancient times, before the Great War, you could call each other on your mobile phone and talk without the Internet or instant messengers,» Sergey «Flash» Beskrestnov, an advisor to the Minister of Defense, once wrote on social media.
In the comments to this post, he explained that, like many thousands of Ukrainian servicemen, he has a systematic problem with online stores, banks, government agencies, and utilities. «They call my mobile, but for me it has been ‘not available’ since the beginning of the war,» added «Flash.»
Of course, the media paid much less attention to this post than to many other posts by «The Flash» about our technological breakthroughs and insidious enemy developments. But it touched on a painful topic for defenders — in fact, they remain outside the service area of many electronic services. Why is that?
A number of services — from online banking to large online stores — use SMS messages or calls to a phone number to confirm logins and transactions. Meanwhile, all those military personnel who are in positions closer to the front line use exclusively Starlink to access the Internet and make calls — there is no mobile connection there, and even if there is, its use is strictly prohibited.
As a result, such everyday, but sometimes important operations as transferring money to relatives or buying goods and tickets become simply unavailable, because it is impossible to receive an SMS or call to confirm them. What the military says about this, whether the services themselves see the problem and whether they are going to change anything — in this material.
«You will receive an SMS now.» And where if the connection is turned off? What do the military think
dev.ua spoke to two military personnel on this topic: a representative of the Border Guard Service and a UAV operator from the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Black Zaporozhians. Both confirmed that there is a problem, but no one knows for sure what to do about it.
«I’m looking for something on the Internet, I’ve already found it, I order it, bang — it says 'you will receive an SMS now'. And where will the SMS come from if my connection is turned off? If you’re in positions, then you just have to look for the same product on another site that didn’t require confirmation via SMS,» the soldier says.
If the product cannot be found in another online store that does not request confirmation via phone number, then the only alternative, according to him, is to postpone the purchase until better times, until you return from the position.
The soldier recalls that he had such a case with the COMFY chain, so he had to postpone the online purchase to a later date, already offline: when he returned from the positions, he simply went to the chain’s physical store and purchased the necessary goods.
«I wanted to buy something, I don’t remember what, and when I left the position, I just went to the store in person and bought the goods there, without any online orders,» he says.
Another military man, Serhiy Gnezdilov, left a rather critical post about the impossibility of purchasing goods from COMFY through this functionality with confirmation of purchase. Let us recall that the latter once became known throughout the country due to a public act of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which was supposed to draw the attention of the military command to the problem of the lack of service terms and prospects for demobilization for defenders who have been in the army since the beginning of the full-scale invasion or since the ATO/JFO.
He left a screenshot of a conversation with an online store bot, where he expressed his vision «without reserve.»
Other military personnel, under this post, made a list of services that also systematically «burn their nerves» due to the inability to confirm the transaction — most often they mentioned banking services, in particular, Privatbank, Oschadbank, and FUIB.
A soldier from the 72nd brigade also added that many banking services do have a similar practice. The solution, he said, is to transfer part of the salary to a card of another bank, which will not require confirmation of the transaction via phone number, even before arriving at the position. «For example, people have a card of another bank — so they simply transfer part of the salary they receive to it,» the soldier says. In an extreme case, when you absolutely need to buy/pay for something online, but due to restrictions there is no such possibility, according to the defender, there is another option to ask a comrade who is not at the position to do it, and then pay with him. «If something doesn’t work out for you, you just call a comrade who is at home and you can somehow pay there later,» he adds.
A serviceman of the State Border Service, with whom we spoke on this topic, sees a similar way out of the situation. According to him, one can simply give his card to his wife, another close relative, or a trusted person so that she can make purchases/payments on behalf of the serviceman.
«The solution is on the surface. You can give your card to a trusted person — your wife, sister, brother, a close relative, or maybe friends. It’s probably better to have it notarized for extra security. You can already agree on how this person will manage your money, but it won’t be difficult to track transactions through online banking,» he says.
According to the representative of the State Border Service of Ukraine, the priority at the military base is physical survival, not any purchases or financial transactions, but still, in conditions where Internet use can be very limited in time, and you yourself are forced to make any decisions quickly, the inability to resolve some such financial issues online can be significantly annoying and frustrating. After all, the military earns money with their most dangerous job in the world, but, in fact, they cannot spend it.
«There is no mention of mobile Internet, but it happens that Starlink on the front line is also considered an unmasking point. Therefore, there is a story that it was also turned on for a conditional half hour to make calls to your relatives that everything is okay with you, and then immediately turned off so as not to unmask yourself for the sake of improved security. It turns out that you may receive some significant amounts of money, but you cannot manage them at the moment or transfer something urgently,» he says.
«Manual solutions cannot completely cover the system need.» COMFY is working on changes
We received comments from the press services of the electronics and home appliances retailer COMFY, as well as the state-owned Privatbank, which the military has also repeatedly mentioned in this context. However, it is worth noting right away that in this case we are talking about a widespread problem that arises when using dozens or even hundreds of services, including many online stores and online banking. Therefore, it would be wrong to attribute this exclusively to these two brands — on the contrary, we are grateful to them for not keeping this issue quiet and sharing their position.
COMFY says they are aware of such requests and understand the problem that military personnel face while on the front lines. The network confirms that during the full-scale invasion, they have repeatedly received requests from defenders who cannot pass standard authorization due to the lack of mobile communication and the ability to receive an SMS code. «In such cases, the COMFY team helps clients individually: accompanies them in the process of entering their personal account or helps place an order through personal messages and other available communication channels,» COMFY claims.
The COMFY press service reports that in most cases, the network’s employees manage to find a solution and help the client get the necessary goods, but at the same time there is an understanding that individual manual solutions cannot completely cover the systemic need. «Therefore, we pay close attention to feedback from the military and are looking for opportunities to make our services more convenient for people who defend the country,» they assured.
The company recently held a separate discussion about possible changes that would help address this issue.
In particular, work is underway to expand the available methods for obtaining an authorization code so that the client can choose the most convenient confirmation channel for themselves. «This should reduce dependence solely on SMS messages and make using services more accessible in difficult conditions,» COMFY assured.
The company recalled that any solution requires careful consideration from the perspective of security, customer experience, and technical implementation, but added that they are open to finding additional mechanisms that would allow them to take into account the specific needs of military and other categories of customers who may be in conditions of limited access to mobile communications.
«Of course, the implementation of new authorization scenarios requires additional investments, both in the development and integration of solutions, and in the further support of alternative communication channels. However, COMFY considers such expenses as a necessary part of the development of the service. If the changes will help our defenders to receive the necessary goods faster and easier, then this is exactly the case when the need is obvious and the solution is important,» the retailer’s press service noted.
«We are gradually switching to digital services that work without a SIM card or mobile operator coverage»: Privatbank’s position
PrivatBank understands that it is important for defenders to have uninterrupted access to banking services, but at the same time they emphasize that they must guarantee the complete security of accounts.
«All existing authorization and transaction confirmation procedures are implemented solely for security reasons to protect military accounts from fraudsters or access by unauthorized persons. In addition, two-factor authentication of the client when making transactions is a direct requirement of the financial regulator (NBU),» the financial institution noted in response to a request from dev.ua.
The bank emphasizes that they are aware of the difficulties with mobile communications in the combat zone, as they receive such requests from military personnel to the support service. «Our specialists analyze each such request and look for individual solutions to help the client, while guaranteeing the security of accounts,» Privatbank assured.
In addition, the bank currently has a special working group working on adapting processes to the needs of defenders. One of its priorities today is the development of new solutions without the use of mobile communications.
«The bank is developing new solutions for defenders. We are gradually switching to digital services that work without a SIM card or mobile operator coverage — any network connection (for example, via Starlink or Wi-Fi) is enough to access the bank,» Privatbank says.
Among such services, the bank calls FaceON (biometrics), in particular, the technology of confirming transactions by scanning the face through the smartphone camera, as well as assistance via support chat. «If automatic confirmation did not work, the serviceman can write in the chat. The operator will conduct video verification and help with payment or account unlocking,» Privatbank assured.
In addition, the financial institution announces new solutions that have not yet been made publicly available, but are under development.
«Our IT specialists are constantly looking for other secure verification methods that work exclusively via the Internet. We will definitely announce them after testing and implementation,» the bank promised.
They added that developing solutions that allow transactions to be confirmed exclusively via the Internet requires significant investments in IT, security architecture, and team training, but for them it is not a matter of money, but of fundamental social responsibility. «We are ready to invest resources to guarantee defenders comfort and the security of their funds,» Privatbank assured.
It remains to be believed that other services will soon begin to take up the implementation of similar solutions in the interests of the military.
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