Hackers uncover Belarus's hidden role in Russian drone attacks on Ukraine

Read also: Massive night strike: Russia attacks Ukraine with Iskander missile and 120 drones

As part of the operation, cyber specialists hacked the accounts of dozens of Russian military personnel and gained access to the monitoring systems used by drone operators.

During around-the-clock surveillance, data was provided to Ukrainian Defense Forces to help counter Russian drone attacks. The information also contributed to gathering intelligence on drone flight paths and mission assignments.

The operation ran from mid-2025 to February 2026. Among its outcomes were successful strikes by Ukrainian Defense Forces on Russian command posts.

In September 2025, analysis of intercepted chats from Russian drone operators revealed that Russia had been actively using civilian infrastructure in Belarus to route its drones.

This allowed a stable signal for striking targets along Ukraine's northern and western borders. Some drones were even deliberately flown into the airspace of certain NATO countries.

Photo: screenshot of the desktop and software used by Russian drone operators, showing the drone camera feed (InformNapalm)

In addition, in the second half of 2025, the Kremlin deployed a relay system on Belarusian territory to control strike drones. This enhanced the Russian army's ability to carry out attacks on northern regions of Ukraine. For example, strikes on energy infrastructure and railways could not have been carried out without support from Belarus.

Photo: screenshot showing drone route planning and operator communications (InformNapalm)

Photo: screenshot of Russian drone operators showing typical route planning from Russian territory along Belarus’s internal border for subsequent attacks on Ukraine (InformNapalm)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's sanctions against Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko are the result of a long-term cyber operation carried out by Ukrainian hackers.

Covert threat monitoring and real support for defense forces

For many months, Ukrainian IT specialists secretly monitored the chats and activities of dozens of Russian strike drone operators around the clock, taking care not to reveal their presence.

Data was promptly shared with the appropriate units of Ukraine's Defense Forces, greatly improving situational awareness and enabling the effective interception and suppression of Russian drones.

While the hackers did not have full control of the systems and could not operate the drones themselves, they were able to observe enemy actions and enhance the effectiveness of Ukraine’s operational countermeasures.

The operation lasted over six months and enabled several Ukrainian Defense Forces operations, including:

• successful strikes on command posts and drone launch sites in Russian territory and temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine;

• attacks on locations of the elite Russian Rubikon unit and other actions that disrupted Russian plans.

Additionally, in September 2025, operational information was provided to NATO partners, revealing that the incursion of dozens of Russian drones into Poland on the night of September 9–10, 2025, was part of testing new tactics and the capabilities of Belarusian civilian cellular infrastructure.

The goal was to plan further strikes along logistics routes in both Ukraine and Poland to disrupt the delivery of Western weapons and equipment to Ukraine.

Ukraine imposes sanctions on Lukashenko

On February 18, President Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had imposed a sanctions package on self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for assisting Russia in its war.

He stated that in the second half of 2025, the Russians deployed a relay system in Belarus to control strike drones, enhancing the Russian army’s ability to carry out attacks across northern Ukraine, from Kyiv region to Volyn.

Zelenskyy noted that some attacks, including those on energy infrastructure and railways in Ukrainian regions, could not have been carried out without Belarus's support.

More than 3,000 Belarusian enterprises have been put at the service of Russia's war, supplying equipment, machinery, and components classified as critically important. This includes components for producing missiles that terrorize Ukrainian cities and villages.

The president also emphasized that infrastructure is being developed in Belarus for the deployment of medium-range Oreshnik missiles, posing a clear threat not only to Ukrainians but to all Europeans.