Blurs

Inside Ukraine's Hidden Telecommunications War Thousands of Ukrainian mobile numbers, millions of pounds' worth of financial transactions, and commercial telecommunications equipment incorporated into Russian attack drones An investigation that began with the arrest of two suspected agents in 2025 has since exposed the potential scale of a supply network operating across international borders.  Meanwhile, Russian drone designs have evolved to incorporate increasingly sophisticated communications systems.  How did ordinary SIM cards become part of a modern weapons system, and what does the story reveal about the changing nature of warfare? In modern warfare, some of the most consequential technologies are not necessarily designed for military use. Mobile phone SIM cards, commercial computer components and ordinary telecommunications equipment can all find their way into weapons systems.  Their original purpose may be to connect a phone to a network, transmit data or provid...

A U.S. Air Force transport aircraft has landed in Moscow — and reports suggest America's top intelligence official may have been aboard. But what was the mission? On 25 August 2026, a highly unusual sight appeared over Russia: a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III landed at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport. The aircraft, carrying the U.S. military registration 07-7181, had flown directly from Riga, Latvia. Its arrival immediately attracted attention because direct U.S. military flights into Moscow are extraordinarily unusual amid the continuing confrontation between Washington and Moscow. Then the story became considerably more intriguing. Reports from CBS News and other U.S. media outlets said that CIA Director John Ratcliffe was in Moscow for meetings. The CIA, Pentagon and U.S. Air Force declined to comment publicly on the reports. So why was an American military aircraft sitting on the ground in Moscow? A very unusual journey The C-17 had reportedly arrived in Riga on 23 Au...