What Intercepted Russian Army Radio Chatter Reveals About Their Weakness

Russian troops' inability to use secure communications has forced them to employ converted civilian radios, like this Chinese-made model. 

The result is that many of their transmissions can be intercepted. And what they reveal is an army beset by failures of coordination, supply and leadership. JL 

Rebecca Cohen reports in Insider, image Defence blog:

Intercepted radio transmissions reveal Russians, under fire, out of fuel and no air support, ordering troops to target residential areas. New York Times' audio-visual investigators teamed up with ham radio operators and open source groups to obtain the radio transmissions. It's unclear why Russian troops are using unsecured radio networks to communicate, but it has become normal during Russia's invasion. The recordings reveal an army struggling with logistical problems and communication failures. "You fucking forgot about the fucking air support! You forgot! Over!"

• Intercepted radio transmissions reveal Russians ordering troops to target residential areas.

• In one clip, a Russian is telling a soldier to "cover the residential area with artillery," according to the New York Times.

• He was also ordered to first remove "property" from the area — likely referring to Russian personnel or equipment.

Intercepted radio transmissions reveal Russians ordered troops in Ukraine to target residential areas, the New York Times reported.

Audio from the unsecured radio networks obtained by The Times show Russian troops discussing targets while advancing on the Ukrainian town of Makariv on February 27.

In one bit of radio chatter, a Russian is heard ordering a military member to "cover" residential areas "with artillery" once the "property" is removed, according to The Times' translation.

New York Times journalist Christiaan Triebert reported that "property" was likely code for "Russian personnel or equipment."

A Russian who identifies himself in the recording as "Yug-95" told soldier "Buran-30" that a "decision has been made to remove the first 'property' from the residential area," according to a translation by the New York Times.

He then instructed the soldier to "cover the residential area with artillery," The Times reported.

He repeated the orders twice, The Times reported.

—Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) March 23, 2022

Another clip reveals Russian soldiers appearing to yell at each other after they came under fire in Makariv.

"My situation is very tense, tanks are approaching," Buran-30 said in an intercepted radio conversation, according to The Times' translation. "I don't know whose tanks they are, cannot identify them. There is a drone over the area and the area is under fire from all directions."

He said he was under fire and that he was stuck, according to The Times, and was told to request air support, but it never happened.

According to The Times translations, Yug-95 then responded by saying "You fucking forgot about the fucking air support! You forgot! Over!"

The Times' audio-visual investigators teamed up with ham radio operators and open source groups to obtain the radio transmissions, the paper said.

The paper said the recordings "reveal an army struggling with logistical problems and communication failures."

It's unclear why Russian troops were using unsecured radio networks to communicate, but The Verge reported that it has become normal during Russia's invasion into Ukraine.