Ukrainian Hackers Tricked Over 2,600 Russian Troops Into Revealing Locations Via Starlink

When SpaceX introduced a registration requirement for Starlink terminals on Ukrainian territory, Russian soldiers who had been smuggling the devices found themselves unable to use them. Desperate to regain connectivity, the soldiers began seeking Ukrainians willing to re-register the terminals for cash. Ukraine's 256 Cyber Assault Division identified the opportunity.

Posing as cybercriminals on Telegram, the unit offered to register Russian Starlinks in exchange for cryptocurrency payments. They then used an AI chatbot to guide the soldiers through the registration process. The process concluded with a request for the soldiers to send their GPS coordinates.

More than 2,600 Russian soldiers complied with the request. The coordinates revealed the locations of Russian headquarters, command posts and drone pilot positions. Strike drones subsequently targeted those positions.

The operation exploited the registration change that cut off previously smuggled Starlink devices from network access on Ukrainian territory. Russian troops had relied on the devices for battlefield communications before the new requirement took effect. The incident was reported by The Times.