Сергей Бескрестнов. Фото: facebook.com/Serhii.Flash
Ukrainian Defense Ministry adviser Serhii Beskrestnov has stated that Belarusian mobile operators provide roaming services for Russian kamikaze drones attacking Ukraine.
According to him, each “Shahed” drone is equipped with a SIM card from the Russian operator Tele2, batches of which are specially ordered and supplied to drone manufacturers. In Ukraine, roaming for these SIM cards is blocked; however, along the Belarusian border, the drones receive connectivity from Belarusian operators.
“In Russia there are several mobile operators, but there is one that our enemy uses most actively for terror in Ukraine. This operator is called Tele2 (now T2). Each Shahed is equipped with a Tele2 SIM card. Batches of these SIM cards are specially ordered by the operator and supplied to Shahed manufacturers,” he wrote on Facebook.
A similar situation is observed near the Polish and Romanian borders, he said.
“In Ukraine, roaming for Tele2 SIM cards on Shaheds is blocked, but along the borders the Shaheds receive roaming services, for example, from Belarusian operators. SIM cards may also work in roaming from Polish or Romanian operators when flying along the borders with these countries. I do not rule out the possibility that SIM cards from this same operator are used to control mysterious UAVs that appear in various European countries,” the adviser noted.
Beskrestnov called on telecommunications operators across the civilized world to terminate roaming agreements with Tele2.
“This concerns roaming agreements and international interconnect. Tele2 must become a local domestic Russian telecommunications operator,” he said.