Prof. Anatoliy Khudoliy
National University of Ostroh Academy (Ukraine)
Introduction.
Global problems are of a planetary nature, affecting the interests of all peoples of the world, need urgent solutions, and require collective efforts and joint action by all nations. Local military conflicts and hybrid wars on geopolitical and territorial grounds (for example, between Israel and Palestine, Ukraine and the Russian Federation) are one of the most complex global threats in the 21st century. After all, these confrontations have become a challenge for the whole world, as they threaten to completely destabilize the world order. The geopolitical development of modern societies has changed the priorities in global problems: some experts consider the energy and raw materials problem to be a priority, while others consider the geopolitical distribution of territories and spheres of influence in the world. Therefore, among the global problems of the last twenty years, peace and disarmament, environmental, food, demographic, energy and raw materials issues are most often mentioned. And among the global problems of the last 3 years is Russian aggression against Ukraine.
An analysis of the main trends in the current geopolitical situation shows that a new multipolar model of the world order is being formed, within which new centers of power are emerging alongside the United States, including China, the EU, India, Brazil, Russia, and others. The interests of each of these countries do not coincide in the political, economic, security and other spheres, which leads to confrontation between them at both the global and regional levels, and as a result – to increased global instability, wars or armed conflicts. At the same time, there is a decline in the effectiveness of leading international organizations, including the UN and the OSCE, in the political settlement of existing security problems. This is evidenced by the military conflicts in Georgia and Ukraine, as well as developments around Syria and Israel.
Because new threats to Ukraine’s national interests never stop emerging, and world nations’ foreign priorities keep changing, the DIU leadership pays extra attention to maintaining and improving of DIU staff’s professionalism, development of the infrastructure. New areas of interests are constantly researched, international cooperation is actively maintained. In addition, the DIU directly contributes to the development of Ukrainian legislature on a regular basis.
Unprovoked Russian aggression against Ukraine caused significant changes in activity of Ukraine’s military and intelligence service. The full-fledged war sparked by Moscow in 2022 set new goals not only for the Ukrainian militaries, but also for the defence intelligence of Ukraine. The DIU (Defence Intelligence of Ukraine) had to reevaluate its activities and make changes in approaches, functioning and carrying out of special military operations. All the activities of the DIU concerned the essence of its mission, tasks and values. The war waged by Moscow made corrections not only in functioning of the intelligence organization, but also in the life of the whole country, society, all Ukrainians.
Regarding the main tasks of intelligence, they are as following: timely providing consumers with intelligence information; promoting the implementation of the national interests of Ukraine; countering external threats to the Ukraine’s national security in spheres determined by the law. The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine conducts intelligence in the defence, development of military capability, military and military-technical as well as cybersecurity areas [10]. There are differences in intelligence activities assessing them during the peaceful time and the warfare.
The warfare reshaped the perception and the attitude of the intelligence officers. As it is said in the definition of the tasks – We protect the national interests of Ukraine, counter threats to national security, and provide intelligence to the country’s leadership and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. DIU conducts a wide range of operations: cyber space, marine and ground operations.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian military intelligence specialists have conducted over a hundred large-scale cyber operations in the territory of the russian federation. Ukrainian specialists secretly extracted tens of terabytes of data about the enemy. This data is collected, analyzed, and used by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine to inflict damage on the enemy. Military intelligence specialists also engage in other types of cyber operations, the aim of which is to damage and destroy the enemy’s equipment used for transmitting information or for the functioning of the financial and economic activities of specific institutions or companies [6].
For instance, in 2024 Ukrainian intelligence has again attacked the largest banks of the Russian Federation. The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine have carried out another DDoS attack on the Russian banking system. The operation disrupted the work of the largest banking institutions of the aggressor state, which support the activities of the occupation forces of the Russian armed forces. In particular, the cyberattack targeted Bank Rossiya, Tinkoff Bank, Gaz Bank, and the SBP payment system [4].
In late May, hackers from the Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) launched a large-scale DDoS attack targeting Russian providers. Russians complain and call it “the most powerful in history.” The attack left at least 250,000 subscribers in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea, without communication. Both the subscriber networks and the networks of operators that used the affected infrastructure were affected. According to the CEO of one of the Russian operators, most subscribers were left without communication for more than two days. Representatives of providers reported difficulties in communicating with subscribers, as they refused to provide operators with their up-to-date information for fear of fraud. In particular, 20% refused to modernize network equipment that could protect them from attacks in the future [2].
Russian companies have received letters reminding them of the inevitable reckoning for the war against Ukraine. Activists of the cyber community BO_Team together with the DIU specialists attacked facilities in the territory of the aggressor state of Russia. This was reported by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. “Destroying important data and equipment, paralyzing work, causing damage and creating a bad mood in Russia,” the statement said.
Over the past week of June 2024, cyber specialists together with the GUR destroyed: 1) more than 100 terabytes of data from OrbitSoft, a software developer that fulfilled contracts for the Russian occupation army; 2) all data on 8 servers of Orient Systems, a developer and supplier of navigation equipment. The company cooperated with Russian manufacturers of military equipment, including UAVs; 3) all data on 19 servers of Internet providers in the city of Nizhny Novgorod – Linktelecom NN and Access Telecom. “All subscribers of these providers have received letters reminding them of the inevitable reckoning for the war against Ukraine,” the statement added [1].
Naval Drones of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Dominate the Black Sea. A proud achievement of the DIU’s successful operations is the destruction of ships of the russian black sea fleet using the “Magura” unmanned marine vehicles. The boat was first presented at the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF), which took place from 25 to 28 July 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey.
The first target of the DIU’s naval drones on May 24, 2023, was the russian reconnaissance ship “Ivan Khurs”, successfully attacked by three drones 140 km northeast of the Bosphorus Strait. On August 1, 2023, the 22160-project ship “Serhii Kotov” was sunk 340 km from Sevastopol. On November 10, 2023, as a result of an operation by Ukrainian military intelligence in Crimea, two russian boats sank: one from the older project 1176 “Acula”, and the other, newer one from project 11770 “Serna”. On February 1, 2024, six “Magura V5” drones attacked the russian missile boat “Ivanovets”. It sank, and all crew members (approximately 40 people) were killed. Several landing boats near the Black Sea were also destroyed. On February 14, 2024, a large assault ship “Cezar Kunikov” was sunk near Alupka. On March 5, 2024, “Group 13” the Special Forces unit of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine finally sank the patrol ship “Sergey Kotov” of the black sea fleet of the russian federation. On May 6, 2024, in Narrow Bay, the unit of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine “Group 13” destroyed the russian high-speed patrol boat of project 12150 “Mangust” using the strike sea drone “Magura V5”. On May 30, 2024, the Special Forces personnel from “Group 13” destroyed two russian border guard boats of the russia’s fsb type KS-701 “Tunets” and damaged two more vessels of the same type using the strike sea drones “Magura V5”. On June 6, 2024, the Special Forces unit of the 9th Department of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine near the shores of the temporarily occupied Crimea successfully struck the russian raid tug of project 498 “Saturn” or “Protei” [7].
Long-Range Aviation is also a priority target for the DIU units. On January 14, 2024, as a result of a successful joint operation of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine and the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a russian long-range radar detection aircraft A-50U was destroyed, and its crew perished. An airborne command post the Il-22M was also shot down, which, despite severe damage, managed to land in Anapa. On April 19, 2024, a similar scenario unfolded 308 km away from the launch site of an anti-aircraft missile, resulting in the destruction of a russian strategic bomber Tu-22M3 [5].
The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine actively apply strike UAVs of reach the enemy everywhere. On April 17, 2024, special forces personnel of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine attacked the 590th separate radio-technical node of military unit no. 84680 located in the russian town of kovylkino (mordovia) using UAVs. The over-the-horizon 29B6 “Container” radar with a detection range of 3,000 kilometres and a detection height of 100 kilometres was destroyed. The distance from the Ukrainian border to the impact site is approximately 680 kilometres.
On the night of 24 April, drones of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine attacked the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant in the russian city of lipetsk. On May 27, a drone of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine set a record for the range of flight and attacked a radar station in russia at a distance of over 1800 kilometres. It hit the “Voronezh M” radar in orsk, orenburg region of the russian federation.
On June 8, 2024, at the “Akhtubinsk” airfield in the astrakhan oblast of the russian federation, located 589 km from the line of contact, the most advanced multirole fighter of the aggressor state Su-57 was successfully hit, and another aircraft of the same class was damaged. This is the first case of hitting a Su-57 in history [8].
The Return of Control Over the “Boiko’s Towers”. In early September 2023, intelligence officers of the “Artan” Special Forces unit of the DEfence Intelligence of Ukraine carried out a daring operation and liberated the so-called “Boiko’s Towers” – drilling gas production platforms on the Black Sea shelf between Zmiinyi Island and the western coast of Crimea, captured by the russians back in March 2014. In particular, control was regained over the drilling platforms “Petro Hodovalets” and “Ukraine”, as well as the self-elevating drilling rigs “Tavrida” and “Sivash”. During the operation, Special Forces men managed to capture valuable trophies: stocks of unguided aviation rockets (UAR) and destroy the “Neva” radar system, which tracked the movement of vessels in the Black Sea [9].
The DIU units participated in defence of Avdiivka, Vovchansk, in the Battle for Chasiv Yar. In May 2024 GUR drones had attacked a refinery and three military airfields in Russia. In particular, a Tu-22M3 bomber was damaged at the Olenya airfield [3].
Conclusions. Due to circumstances the DIU makes corrections in its activities. DIU is indispensable component of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. Its goals are shaped by interest and values of the Ukrainian state. The unprovoked aggression of the russian federation stimulated activities of the DIU, its methods, approaches and techniques that vary from special military operations to cyber space operations. Improving effectiveness of its activities, the DIU fruitfully cooperates with its partners in Europe and around the world.
References:
- Holovchak Khrystyna. Khakery HUR atakuvaly rosiiski kompanii, yaki pidtrymuiut viinu. TSN. 29.06.2024. URL: https://tsn.ua/svit/hakeri-gur-atakuvali-rosiyski-kompaniyi-yaki-pidtrimuyut-viynu-2610819.html
- Kuznietsova Kateryna. Naipotuzhnisha v istorii”: khakery HUR zdiisnyly masshtabnu DDos-ataku proty provaideriv RF — ZMI. TSN. 01.07.2024.URL: https://tsn.ua/svit/naypotuzhnisha-v-istoriyi-hakeri-gur-zdiysnili-masshtabnu-ddos-ataku-proti-provayderiv-rf-zmi-2612019.html
- Labiak Iryna. Zelenskyi nazvav dosiahnennia HUR v atakakh uhlyb Rosii. TSN. 29.07.2024. URL: https://tsn.ua/ato/zelenskiy-nazvav-dosyagnennya-gur-v-atakah-uglib-rosiyi-2629836.html
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- Destruction of Enemy Long-Range Aviation. DIU. URL: https://gur.gov.ua/en/content/znyshchennia-vorozhoi-dalnoi-aviatsii
- Operations of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine In Cyberspace. DIU. URL: https://gur.gov.ua/en/content/operatsii-hur-v-kiberprostori
- Naval Drones of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Dominate the Black Sea. DIU. URL: https://gur.gov.ua/en/content/morski-drony-hur-dominuiut-u-chornomu-mori
- Strike UAVs of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Reach the enemy Everywhere. DIU. URL: https://gur.gov.ua/en/content/udarni-bpla-hur-dosiahaiut-voroha-skriz
- The Return of Control Over the “Boiko’s Towers”. DIU. URL: https://gur.gov.ua/en/content/povernennia-kontroliu-nad-vyshkamy-boika
- What we do. Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. Access mode: URL: https://gur.gov.ua/en//content/directions.html#tasks
