Cybersecurity experts expected Russian forces to take out at least some Ukrainian phone lines and internet services as part of a ground invasion. It hasn’t happened — even though Russia appears to be suffering for it.
to have interrupted Russian military communications. If those claims are true, it would help explain why Russian soldiers would turn to commercial networks to communicate.Another explanation is simply that Russia expected to win so quickly that it felt it could keep important telecommunications infrastructure intact that it would soon need to run the country.
Even if Russia does succeed in claiming Ukraine, taking over a region’s existing telecommunications infrastructure is already difficult without having to spend tens or hundreds of millions of dollars building entirely new cell towers. When Russia illegally annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014, it took Moscow about three years to take full control of the region’s mobile infrastructure. That’s even though that cell network had been left intact during the invasion, according to.
And it wasn’t a simple process. Ukrainian mobile operator Ukrtelecom kept running the network for almost a year after the annexation in parts of Crimea, until armed guards surrounded the company’s offices and blocked employees from entering,. Crimean providers relied on Ukrainian infrastructure while Russian state-owned provider Rostelecom laid a new submarine cable across the Kerch Strait to connect Crimea directly with Russia without having to pass through Ukraine.
Of course Crimea’s population is about 20 times smaller than that of Ukraine. So the difficulty Russia had in taking over Crimean phone networks only hints at the challenges that assuming control of the Ukrainian phone system would entail, even if it were to remain intact.
And if that happens, it could be a clear sign of how Russia views its odds of winning: “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin of all people knows the intelligence benefits of keeping the networks up and running, and he expects to inherit them soon,” said Lewis, of CSIS. “It will be a sign that the Russians are giving up if they start blowing up critical infrastructure.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Russia-Ukraine live updates: Ukraine: Next talks with Russia on MondayThe next round of talks between Ukraine and Russia will be held on Monday, Ukrainian official Davyd Arakhamia said Saturday.
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine live updates: Ukraine denounces proposed evacuation corridors to Russia, BelarusLocal Ukrainian leaders said there was no confirmation of a temporary cease-fire as Vladimir Putin's military continued its attacks.
Read more »
Ukraine rejects ‘completely immoral’ Moscow-proposed corridors to Belarus, RussiaUkraine on Monday blasted Moscow’s announcement of “humanitarian corridors” to allow citizens to evacuate three cities as “completely immoral” – because their escape routes would lead into Russia o…
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine War: How to Help Ukraine, Latest NewsDespite Russia and Ukraine agreeing to a cease-fire, the port city of Mariupol collapsed amid scenes of terror and Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday in a speech from Moscow that the neighboring country could lose its statehood. The struggle to enforce the temporary cease-fire in Mariupol and the eastern city of Volnovakha showed the fragility of efforts to stop…
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine War: What to know on Russia's war in UkraineAs Russia’s war on Ukraine entered Day 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Ukrainian statehood is in jeopardy and pinned the blame for the war on Ukrainian leadership. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians to resist and made a “desperate plea” to U.S.
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine war: Arizona ammo company to send 1 million bullets to UkraineAn ammunition company in Scottsdale, Arizona, has pledged to send one million bullets to the Ukraine Armed Forces as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues his deadly invasion into Ukraine.
Read more »