Ukrainian forces say Russian troops paid them for a fake Starlink service that instead revealed battlefield locations

• A Ukrainian division said it took advantage of Russia’s need for Starlink to gain locations for its troops.

• Two OSINT groups assisted the Russians by filing a complaint against a bot offering Starlink registration.

• Ukrainian soldiers said they operated the bot and collected money and data from the soldiers.

A Ukrainian cyberwarfare division said Thursday that it created a fake Starlink registration service to trick Russian soldiers into giving up sensitive data.

The 256th Cyber ​​Attack Division said it partnered with open-source intelligence groups to support a network of Telegram channels and bots that offered to help Kremlin troops register Starlink terminals on the Ukrainian whitelist.

But the 256th said the channels were a ruse and were run by Ukrainian forces, from whom soldiers were sent location and terminal data.

The statement is another example of how wartime operations have spilled over onto social media and comes after repeated reports of Russian forces struggling to evade an attack. region-wide Starlink block By paying Ukrainian civilians to register terminals for them.

SpaceX cut off connectivity in Ukraine earlier this month, allowing only terminals registered with the Ukrainian government to continue receiving service. This sweeping move comes into effect following repeated reports that Russian forces are purchasing terminals on the black market to direct attack drones and conduct battlefield communications.

Russia has downplayed the influence of the geofenced bloc on its operations, but Kiev officials say Russia’s attempts are in that direction. Kremlin’s troops will record terminals State their need for American-operated service.

The 256th said in its statement that it took advantage of these needs to connect with Russian soldiers.

“It’s hard to understand how desperately this pattern is searching for ways to return to its former state.” Elon Musk’s dish network — and the threats it poses — we, along with InformNapalm and MILITANT, decided to ‘help’ them,” he wrote, referring to two groups he works with.

Telegram bots will ask soldiers for information about their status, according to screenshots released by the division showing interactions with Russian troops. Starlink terminals.

The soldiers then appear to share details such as terminal ID numbers, satellite dish numbers, Starlink account numbers, and location coordinates in latitude and longitude.

Business Insider could not independently verify the authenticity of these screenshots.

The 256th said it collected 2,420 data entries about Russian Starlink terminals and their “precise” locations, as well as $5,870 from Moscow troops who paid for the fake service.

The department added that 31 Ukrainians contacted its network, requesting opportunities to help Russians register terminals.

InformNapalm, a Ukrainian-European OSINT group, said in a statement that it played a “supporting role” in the operation by pretending to complain about Telegram channels that allegedly helped the Russians with the Starlink registration.

The group had posted about a channel called “russian_starlink” on Monday, writing that this channel had increased in popularity but had not yet been blocked by Ukrainian authorities.

“This was already one of the stages of drawing Russian military personnel even deeper into the ‘honeypot,'” the group wrote about Monday’s post.

MILITANT, a Ukrainian OSINT group that shared InformNapalm’s Monday post, called the initiative a “Self-Liquidation Operation.”

“As for the coordinates they sent, the packages were sent back. 155s,” the group wrote, referring to 155 mm artillery shells.

The 256th said it sent Russian data entries to: Serhii SternenkoAdvisor on drone logistics and technology at the Ukrainian ministry of defense. A spokesman for Sternenko’s foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.

In a separate statement regarding

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