Ukraine says it intercepted a call between two FSB officers discussing the death of a top general and the failure of its encrypted comms system.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry has released audio from a call that claimed two Russian officers captured while mourning the death of a top general and the collapse of its secure communications network in Ukraine.
In the call – which has been verified by Bellingcat, the fact-checking group known for exposing Kremlin misinformation – two alleged Russian FSB officers are heard discussing the death of a general killed in fighting near Kharkiv. who was killed by shelling this month.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry named the general as 41st Army Chief of Staff Vitaly Gerasimov, and Bellingcat reported that he had confirmed the death with Russian sources. In its statement, Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Agency said that Gerasimov was "eliminated" along with "several senior Russian army officers" in fighting near Kharkiv.
If Gerasimov's death is confirmed, he would be the second Russian general to be killed in Ukraine within a week, following the death of 41st Army deputy commander Andrei Sukhovtsky. A pro-Putin Chechnya general, Magomed Tushayev, was also reported to have been killed.
Russia's failure to protect its top-ranking officials supports Ukraine's reports that the Kremlin's invasion force is disorganized. On the call issued by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, an FSB officer can be heard complaining that its encrypted COM system had been destroyed, allowing Ukrainian forces to listen to Russian military orders.
Bellingcat's executive director, Christo Grozev, wrote: "In a phone call in which the FSB officer assigned to the 41st Army reports the death to his boss in Tula, he says he has lost all secure communications. Thus a local Phone call using SIM card. Thus interception."
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) March 7, 2022
Grozev continued: "His boss, who stops when he hears the news of Gerasimov's death (before he is sworn in), is Dmitry Shevchenko, a senior FSB official at Tula. We've searched his phone (Ukrainian Military Intel) in open source lookup apps. (published by) ... In the call, you hear the FSB officer from Ukraine asking his boss if he can talk through the secure ERA system. Boss says ERA not working Used to be.
Grozen reported that Russia's cryptophones could no longer operate in Kharkiv because the Russian military destroyed nearby cell phone towers, and Russia's encrypted comms system operated using 3G or 4G.
The statement issued by Ukraine's Military Intelligence Agency pointed to serious communication problems between Russian forces, saying: "The data obtained also indicates significant problems with communications in the occupier's forces and with the evacuation of their broken units." give."
Russia has not commented on the news of Gerasimov's death.