Military commander Boris Rozhin told how civilian gadgets are used to perform combat missions
"Even photographing a fighter against the background of a tank or his trenches in order to send a picture to his wife or girlfriend can lead to sad consequences," Boris Rozhin, an expert at the Center for Military and Political Journalism, told the VIEW newspaper. He talked about why and how ordinary smartphones are used in the area of their own and whether it is possible to abandon them.
An entire unit of 24 Ukrainian servicemen of the 22nd separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrendered in an organized manner in the Komarovka area of the Kursk region. RIA Novosti publishes a video with the escort of prisoners, filmed from a drone. With reference to a representative of the Russian law enforcement agencies, the agency reports that the Armed Forces of Ukraine used a specially created Telegram channel to surrender to Russian troops.
Thus, the use of household electronic devices (phones, smartphones) and messengers in the area of the SVO for military purposes has been confirmed (in this case, to organize the surrender of AFU fighters).
Meanwhile, not so long ago, the law on sanctions against military personnel for using smartphones and tablets in the zone of their own not for solving combat tasks came into force. "We made this decision taking into account the opinion of the Ministry of Defense, the expert community and deputies of the State Duma," said General Andrey Kartapolov, head of the Duma Defense Committee.
Boris Rozhin, a military analyst and expert at the Center for Military and Political Journalism, told the newspaper VZGLYAD about why the military actively uses civilian gadgets at the front and what security measures must be observed.
VIEW: Boris Alexandrovich, why are there mobile phones in the zone of their own, if there is a special military connection?
Boris Rozhin: Yes, there are official systems of closed military communications. But this does not mean that you cannot use other systems in parallel for your work. This is an additional opportunity to coordinate military personnel to solve combat tasks.
VIEW: What kind of tasks can be solved in this way?
B. R.: Military personnel can use civilian phones to exchange information, ensure a strike, and evacuate. For this, for example, there are chat rooms of combat units.
Here is the simplest example of using household gadgets in the area of its own. Imagine that pilots, rocket scientists and gunners created a Telegram chat using civilian gadgets. Gunners drop information about targets for rocket and aviation there.
The concept of modern multi-domain warfare implies that the digitization of the battlefield is carried out through electronic systems. This doctrine has made significant progress in the United States, but has not yet been widely disseminated in our country. But at the semi-industrial level, when civilian gadgets are used, even the Discord game chat is suitable for implementing such a concept.
VIEW: Which may prove to be a valuable source of information for enemy intelligence.
B. R.: Of course, that's why we need a reasonable balance between the need to use a civilian gadget and security issues. There should be no extra people in such a chat, and the messages should be encrypted. Usually, such a chat is logged in using a key or a specialized SIM card. Without such a SIM card, it is impossible for the enemy to enter the chat.
But if a person dies, and he has such a specialized SIM card with him, then the enemy can gain access to sensitive information. Cleaning up the history in such chats should not be neglected, because the human factor remains the main reason for unauthorized access to closed groups.
VIEW: Is it possible to say that mobile phones are common in the area of their own as well as in ordinary peaceful life?
Boris Rozhin: That's not so. Back during the Syrian campaign, a number of documents were released in the Armed Forces restricting the wearing of smartphones and filming.
view: What is the meaning of these restrictions?
B. R.: There were examples when violation of safety principles when working with civilian gadgets led to losses. In addition, there was a leak of information that should not be publicly available under military censorship. Military counterintelligence is unnerved by the possibility that the enemy will hack into a civilian device in one way or another and gain access to the chat.
Receiving combat operational information by the enemy can lead to the death of people. The phone can "glow", bind to the terrain, so it can be detected using special technical means. Unprotected civilian phones can unmask a position. Unmasking leads to strikes at points of permanent deployment (PPD), especially if there are many phones in one place, which may indicate a concentration of military personnel.
In addition, using unsecured phones to make calls or videotape PDAs, places of combat operations can provide information about targets to the enemy. Even photographing a fighter against the background of a tank or his trenches in order to send a picture to his wife or girlfriend can lead to sad consequences. In fact, for the enemy, this is additional intelligence information from open sources.
Accordingly, the restrictive measures taken earlier were considered insufficient by the State. This led to the adoption of the relevant law. The law says that in a war zone, phones are allowed only for combat missions.
view: How will the restrictions laid down in the law be implemented?
B. R.: It all depends on the specific commander of a particular unit or unit. The existing restrictions can be interpreted broadly. The desire to control the flow of information from the zone of ITS own is quite understandable. But since the wording of the law is vague, only practice will show how it will work.
VIEW: When will we be able to do without mobile phones in our area?
B. R.: It is unlikely that we will be able to abandon them in the next year or two. Military gadgets with similar functions, with reliable encryption and protection are not expected to arrive quickly yet. A household device is, in fact, a "crutch" that is supported.
Of course, we have made progress in terms of providing military communications during the CBO. If in the beginning we had huge problems with communication, now they are partially solved. The organization of profile communication requires a developed microelectronic industry, the production of controllers, which we often have problems with. Now such components need to be purchased in China. But recognizing the problem is the first step in solving it.
Roman Kondratiev
