After their mobile phone signal was identified in the region, volunteer fighters from the United Kingdom are reported to have mistakenly sparked a Russian air raid on a Ukrainian military facility.
At least 100 people were KIA, including three former British special forces soldiers who had gone to Ukraine to fight when Russian cruise missiles struck the Yavoriv military base near the Polish border last Sunday.
The objective is the Yavoriv base’s Center for International Security and Peacekeeping, where Ukraine is preparing foreign volunteers to join the International Brigade in order to fight in Ukraine’s defence.
The Telegraph newspaper in the United Kingdom said that hours before the missile assault, between 12 and 14 phone numbers beginning with +44 were seen on surveillance systems in the vicinity.According to security sources, mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a military firm with apparent Kremlin ties, were active on the ground at the time.
This generated fears that mercenaries could collect calls from foreign combatants in Ukraine and pass them on to Russian intelligence using their own scanning equipment. Following that, the order to attack was launched.
Russia is thought to have a big number of phone numbers associated with British elite troops, gathered through covert monitoring activities near UK military facilities.
Former British soldiers who had served with the aforementioned elite forces are said to have volunteered to go to Ukraine to join the fight at the request of Kiev authorities.That means that if they use their phone in Ukraine, the signal will be sent to Russian intelligence headquarters right away.
“As soon as Moscow learns any information regarding the likely presence of ex-British soldiers on the base, it will launch an attack,” says one source. The Russian strike on the Yavoriv military installation has highlighted the dangers that foreign recruits confront when entering a conflict zone, particularly if they do not exercise caution when using electronic equipment.
There is also concern that Russian spies may readily infiltrate foreign volunteers arriving in Ukraine.British volunteers who fled the base just hours before the attack expressed concern earlier this week about the chaotic character of the foreign recruit training effort.
Despite assurances from Ukrainian officials that they might join the multinational brigade as military doctors, several said they were dispatched to combat after only 48 hours of training.
