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The Military Privacy Security

Ukraine Might Have Leaked Data On 120,000 Russian Soldiers (theregister.com) 184

Posted by BeauHD from the our-bad dept.
BrendaEM shares a report from The Register: Ukrainian news website Ukrainska Pravda says the nation's Centre for Defense Strategies think tank has obtained the personal details of 120,000 Russian servicemen fighting in Ukraine. The publication has now shared this data freely on its website. The Register and others have been unable to fully verify the accuracy of the data from the leak. The records include what appears to be names, addresses, passport numbers, unit names, and phone numbers. Some open source intelligence researchers on Twitter said they found positive matches, as did sources who spoke confidentially to El Reg; others said they couldn't verify dip-sampled data. Rumors swirled on the internet that activists were behind the disclosure. The Ukrainian news agency said the personnel records were obtained from "reliable sources." Whether or not the database's contents is real, the impact on Russian military morale -- knowing that your country's enemies have your personal details and can contact your family if you're captured, killed, or even still alive -- won't be insignificant.
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Ukraine Might Have Leaked Data On 120,000 Russian Soldiers More

Ukraine Might Have Leaked Data On 120,000 Russian Soldiers

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  • Much the same, but some interesting differences.
  • I shoot to kill.

    This is a far less lethal response than I could imagine in similar circumstances.

  • Easy way out (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Okian Warrior ( 537106 ) on Wednesday March 02, 2022 @10:34PM (#62320901) Homepage Journal

    Gen. Petraeus just tonight mentioned that the financial situation (from various banking sanctions) was "draconian" (his word), and thinks it's a race to see whether Russia can take Ukraine before their economy collapses. He noted that the Russian stock exchange didn't open today because they know they would get clobbered.

    The ruble lost 20% of its value in a single day (chart [xe.com]).

    Russia arrested an estimated 1,600 protestors, and it's likely that these people will be "disappeared" (per Frederik Kagam, military analyst).

    Putin is now accused of war crimes, and regardless of the outcome of the war there will be enormous pressure to bring him up for trial at the Hague. If he's not tried the stain of his war crimes will hamper his country for decades.

    There's an easy way out for the Russians: if someone removes/deposes Putin, they could then blame everything on him and try to make peace with the rest of the world. The West would welcome a new friend, and help rebuild the Russian economy into something more modern.

    (Putin claimed not to be a believer in the Communist regime, but he never changed the economy over to be more capitalistic. Even today there are still small cities in Russia that are built around a single manufacturing plant, which was the soviet planned version of efficiency.)

    They could even claim that Putin was in cognitive decline, and the attack was caused by dementia. The circumstances of the attack certainly bear that out.

    The Russian Convoy is still mired from lack of gas and low morale, so it looks like all Zelenskyy and the Ukraine people need to do is hold out and stay strong until the standard of living in Russia crashes far enough to spark a revolution.

    I'm not calling for the assassination of a world leader, just pointing out that making him *not* the leader would give the Russians an easy out, and lead directly to rebuilding their country into the superpower it wants to be.

    Just sayin'

    • Well said. Keep the good thought.

    • Re:Easy way out (Score:4, Insightful)

      by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Wednesday March 02, 2022 @10:59PM (#62320955)

      There's a $1 million bounty on Putin already. https://www.newsweek.com/wante... [newsweek.com]

      Here's to hoping that Putin pulls a Hitler and blows his brains out.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • He almost certainly has a plan for when things go bad (assassinate his enemies?)

        It's likely we'll find out what it is in the next few months. There is a rumor that martial law will be called in Russia on March 4th.

        • Russian financial collapse (Score:4, Interesting)

          by Okian Warrior ( 537106 ) on Thursday March 03, 2022 @01:44AM (#62321187) Homepage Journal

          There is a rumor that martial law will be called in Russia on March 4th.

          More about the Russian stock exchange: It's been closed all week while they make changes to prop up the economy, and is expected to open on the 5th. I don't know if they're open on weekends or wait until Monday.

          Also, Russia has *maybe* defaulted on a debt payment. Financial analysts don't know because it's some sort of corner case. Something like Russia has made the payment, but it can't get out due to the sanctions. Or something. So people are saying that Russia has "technically" defaulted on a payment, and it's likely that it's financial rating is ruined.

          Also, Sberbank (Russia's largest bank) stock has gone from $15 USD to $0.90 USD in two weeks (chart [google.com], click on 1M view). Sanctions are kicking in, but also Russian business interests are now toxic. A ton of worldwide businesses are cancelling contracts above and beyond the sanctions. The Russian economy is expected to contract by at least 15% this year.

          Ouch!

          Also, people in Russia have started a run on the banks, the ATMs have run out of cash, people are converting rubles to valuables (such as jewelry), and general morale is very low.

          So there may be a near-term deadline that Ukraine can shoot for: If the exchange opens on Saturday we can expect, perhaps, Monday of next week the Russian economy will be a smouldering ruin.

          Like, the ruble could be worth nothing by this time next week.

          This is a likely scenario.

          Ukraine might only have to survive until Monday to win this.

          • Ukraine might only have to survive until Monday to win this.

            Around Kiev, they just pushed the Russians back (Makariv was reported cleared), so unless Russia does something to fix their army, then surviving until Monday will be harder for the Russians.

            Fighting on the southern border is tougher (because Russia has more access to that through Crimea). But the Ukrainians have held remarkably since then.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Ambvai ( 1106941 )

            Sherbank is doing even worse on the London Exchange-- in January, it was around 15-16USD. March 2, 2022? Ranged from 1 to 5 cents, before it got suspended.

            https://www.londonstockexchang... [londonstockexchange.com]

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

            Russia has massive buffer funds specifically for this sort of event. "It's the economy stupid" works in quarters to years to decades long consideration. It doesn't work for twitter style "I posted, where are the results?" timeline.

            This is not going to be stopped for economic reasons. Anyone who tells you this is lying. That die is already cast. What is hoped to achieve with the sanctions is rapid sapping of public morale and making it highly unattractive for military planners of relevant nations to have ano

            • I understand they have about USD500billion in foreign reserves.

              Unfortunately can't be used now, since the Russian central bank is sanctioned, and kicked out of SWIFT (the system most of the world uses for transfering money).

              Does not matter if you got a trillion bucks somewhere if you can't use it. That must have been totally unexpected, and a huge surprise to the Russian government. If they were prepared for it, they would not have gotten caught with their pants down in this way.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by Jzanu ( 668651 )
                I eagerly await the next stage, where all the law suits against Putin's regime result in fines paid from those reserves exhausting them legitimately and in a way that Putin can't stop. That money is going to all the people and countries that Russia invades, and to all the companies who assets they seize. The best turn of events would be for the claims awarded to then be used to pay mercenary groups to fight against all Russian military operations and Wagner forces active in Ukraine, Syria, Lebanon, Chechnya

            • Unless their massive buffer is pallets of $100 bills in a warehouse somewhere, it's useless now that the central bank has been sanctioned and Russia has been removed from SWIFT.

              It's the same issue Iran had - you can have all kinds of numbers in databases and spreadsheets, but it's read-only. They can't use it.

        • And that is the thing: You can say about Putin what you want, but he is in a very intelligent man. So why is he fucking this up so badly?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by gtall ( 79522 )

            Um . . . because he's not as intelligent as you seem to think? Look at Dear Leader in the U.S. His claim of being a "stable genius" was propaganda to give his deluded followers a straw to grasp so they didn't have to admit he cannot reason his way out of a paper bag.

          • Putin has surrounded himself with advisors that are afraid of giving him bad news. Hard to make good decisions on complex issues when the information you are getting is massaged, or stovepiped.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by leptons ( 891340 )
            Don't confuse Putin taking advantage of loopholes to say in power for 20 years for "very intelligent". He's an opportunist. He's a thug. He's obviously in over his head in this war. He's destroying the economy of his country for some kind of fantasy notion of bringing the USSR back together. That isn't "very intelligent", that's impulsive, reckless, and stupid.

            • That isn't "very intelligent", that's impulsive, reckless, and stupid.
              He planned that for years. So impulsive it is certainly not. Unless you want to say: he woke up in the morning and said to himself - impulsively - now is the time.

          • I think it's a combination of self-delusion, and surrounding himself with so many yes men over the years that he no longer understands that just because he has the thought it doesn't mean that the entirety of his military and population will fall in line with that thought without reservations. In short, he's fallen for his own bullshit, and in the end it will likely result in his ruin. That may take time, or maybe not. Just depends on if his rich circle of friends get tired of watching their personal val

          • Was a very intelligent man.

            Probably, at one time, so was Joe Biden.

            I'm not sure that's the case anymore, for either of them.

            (Not trying to inject partisan politics here . . . just noting that age usually doesn't make people smarter. It certainly isn't doing that for me.)

        • For all we know, he could have a dead man's switch to launch Russia's nukes, should he meet with an unfortunate demise from whatever cause.

          It's not without precedent; several such switches are known to have existed in Soviet times, and IIRC, one actually went off in the past, due to a computer error, and all of us are standing and breathing today only because of the bravery of a handful of Russian soldiers who risked execution by disobeying the orders to launch because they could not be confirmed.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Hari Pota ( 7672548 )
      Millionaire Alex Konanykhin IS putting up a $1 million reward for the delivery of Putler for War Crimes trial. That could easily be brought to $50m. Heck , 250 million would be a steal.

      In any conventional battle theatre the Russians 40 mile convoy would be a huge blunder. As it is the silovikis came with 3 days food. I would guess though there are 6 or so S-400 or newer launchers. If those were taken out, the Putlerite rats would be talking a new story in a hurry. They would still have lots of AA but

      • Millionaire Alex Konanykhin IS putting up a $1 million reward for the delivery of Putler for War Crimes trial. That could easily be brought to $50m. Heck , 250 million would be a steal.

        Should start a Go Fund Me. Probably raise lots.

        • I'd toss in a hundred or two. If it started up a "I can top that" war with our upper crusters here in the states it could really explode. Hell, might get attractive enough for one of Putin's inner circle to be tempted.

    • I feel like they've put up with a lot worse from their leaders. Stalin anyone?

      • I feel like they've put up with a lot worse from their leaders. Stalin anyone?

        Ukrainians especially remember Josef "Mr. Holodomor" Stalin.

      • Stalin presided over a very different time. People put up with a lot of different things in the 40s that they wouldn't tolerate today.

        Times change, and people change (both in terms of what they believe in, and in terms of the people themselves). No one is asking for a 100 year old grandma to take on Putin, and her children definitely do *not* remember Stalin who has been dead for 70 years.

        Shit man America can't even get through a an election peacefully. To point to the past as some example of what is likely

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by hey! ( 33014 )

      Cognitive decline is not always organic. Human beings are social animals, and we can catch it from the people around us. I'm talking group think; tunnel vision; confirmation bias, consequence blindness.

      There's been some interesting speculation on the effect of the pandemic on the number of people Putin came into contact with on a regular basis. During the height of the pandemic anyone seeking a *personal* contact with Putin had to quarantine for fourteen days. While there was still videoconferencing, Pu

      • I thought you were gonna say he caught it from Trump when he visited lol.

      • Putin is also reported to take HGH or steroids, which can cause emotional problems (becoming withdrawn, etc).
        https://www.endocrine.org/news... [endocrine.org]

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

        This seems to be less of cognitive decline and more of decline of less organised human contact. Essentially who gives information to Putin. Before the pandemic, Putin had quite a bit of connections throughout the structures.

        During the pandemic, he was isolated (see the videos of him sitting far away from people he's talking to). That likely means that whatever information comes to him is now carefully curated by the top elite around him.

        Which is likely at least in part to blame for massive mistake that appe

    • just because they take Ukraine. I think it's telling that he's implying that if they take Ukraine we'll shrug our shoulders and say "ok, it's yours".

      • There is something of a problem we have right now with the lack of clarity for what it will take to lift the sanctions.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tom ( 822 )

      There's an easy way out for the Russians: if someone removes/deposes Putin, they could then blame everything on him and try to make peace with the rest of the world. The West would welcome a new friend, and help rebuild the Russian economy into something more modern.

      Utter nonsense.

      Ukraine is a proxy war between the US and Russia. There are massive geopolitical interests at stake, and the US and its lapdog, the EU, won't back down just because Russia switches out a face.

      Why is the US suddenly so laid back on everything, even on the sanctions they are much more calm and days later than the EU? Because everything is playing out exactly the way some hardliners was hoping it would.

      There are assholes and warmongers on BOTH sides here. Some of them sent in tanks and bombs, bu

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gtall ( 79522 )

        Bullshit. Putin's own words have been clear for decades, he doesn't think Ukrainians deserve a country because if he were to take it, then everyone would know he was biggest asshole in the region and all should bow down and worship his sorry ass. . .as you tiptoe up to doing.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by chefren ( 17219 )
        You seem to be implying that Putin could be a US agent and that the US has been playing the long game on this for 20+ years? There are rumours going around that this is happening now because Putin is ill and might not have so much time left. So in order to not waste their best asset, the CIA told him last fall to proceed with the plans early. /tinfoil conspiracy hat off.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Tom ( 822 )

          You seem to be implying that Putin could be a US agent

          Nonsense. Where in my words did you find that?

          the US has been playing the long game on this for 20+ years?

          70+ years.

          Not even hiding it at all:
          https://www.nato.int/cps/en/na... [nato.int]

          âoekeep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.â

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

        Let's take everything you said as true. But at this stage of the conflict, it's fair to say that whoever started it, Ukrainians are the ones fighting for their nation state, while Russians are fighting for the long term geopolitical goals alongside everyone else.

        And it's worth remembering that Russians are pursuing long term geopolitical goals with this war. Justifications for this war would've been understood and agreed with by Katherine the Great as much as whoever comes after Putin. Leaders are ephermal,

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Tom ( 822 )

          Leaders are ephermal, national interests are permanent.

          Correct. This is what everyone misses with their fixation on Putin, Putin, Putin.

          As if he wasn't surrounded by a huge network of supporters, advisers, lobbyists, generals, ministers, etc. etc. etc.

      • Unfortunately you are perfectly right.
        Your wording however is much better than mine would have been.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rnws ( 554280 )
        Considering the vast majority of E.U. gas imports are used for home heating, the U.S.A. profiteering from its L.N.G. is unlikely the case for several reasons:
        1. Putin's attacked in the spring; the E.U. will need significantly less gas for the next several months.
        2. Germany, the largest consumer of this gas, can (and should) abort its nuclear power shut-down and bring those stations back online.
        3. There are already calls to massively increase insulation and heat-pump programs; both are well-understood t

    • The West would welcome a new friend, and help rebuild the Russian economy into something more modern.

      They tried that, we said no and surrounded them with military bases over the last 30 years which is a big part of why putin is doing this.

      • Trust doesn't come easily. A generation after WW2, Germans were still mistrusted everywhere. There's not a country in Europe that doesn't have reservations about Germany even today. Germany's ambitions are watched very closely. Every disagreement immediately sparks Nazi comparisons. Memes with Polish characters sighing "here we go again" popped up the instant Germany announced that it's upping its military budget. And that's Germany, a country that has lost the war, doesn't have nukes and is constitutionall

      • The same is happening with China. The USA are surrounding them with bases after base, just as if they want to force them to go into a war.

      • You don't think those former Soviet Baltic nations wanted to join NATO to prevent being invaded by Russia again (in some cases for the 3rd or 4th time in the last 100 years) do you? Why is it that you think that NATO was so thirsty to put bases there, and it wasn't those countries specifically trying to join NATO and requesting bases be built there for THEIR protection?

        Also, extra irony for "we don't want NATO on our border, so we're going to invade a country that has four NATO members on it's border." Fi

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      The Russian Convoy is still mired from lack of gas and low morale, so it looks like all Zelenskyy and the Ukraine people need to do is hold out and stay strong until the standard of living in Russia crashes far enough to spark a revolution.

      I'm not calling for the assassination of a world leader, just pointing out that making him *not* the leader would give the Russians an easy out, and lead directly to rebuilding their country into the superpower it wants to be.

      Just sayin'

      There won't be a revolution. Putin and the other oligarchs have seen to that by ensuring the military is loyal to them.

      The sanctions are not aimed at the Russian people, they are aimed at the Russian oligarchs because they are the ones who have the power to depose Putin (or perhaps dispose would be more apt) and force a change of policy (meaning withdraw).

      Also violent revolution rarely ends well. It usually results in years, if not decades of bloody civil war culminating in another dictator taking charge. I

    • I think you're on to something.

      I'm not sure Putin can take Ukraine at all. I'm quite sure he cannot hold it.

      But he can cause tremendous suffering in the process of trying.

      And due to the nuclear threat, there isn't a huge amount any of the rest of us can do to stop him.

      Some form of internal "regime change" may well be our best hope, however slim it may be.

  • Some Russian soldiers might welcome the Ukrainian authorities contacting their families to inform them what has happened to the soldier.

    It is not as if the Russian Army will pass on timely information about soldiers killed or captured.

  • "knowing that your country's enemies have your personal details and can contact your family if you're captured, killed, or even still alive -- won't be insignificant. "

    They might also send a killer-commando to your loved ones if you get out of line, now or in 10 years, must do wonders for morale.

  • https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Profe... [ohchr.org]

    https://ihl-databases.icrc.org... [icrc.org]
    https://ihl-databases.icrc.org... [icrc.org]
    https://ihl-databases.icrc.org... [icrc.org]

    https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19... [yale.edu]
    https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20... [yale.edu]

    Russia is in clear and open violation of these. Of that, there's no question.

    It is not entirely clear what restrictions are imposed on neutral countries, but there may be some unintended consequences in British politicians advocating people to join in the defence of Ukraine, however well-intentioned. I'm also unc

    • Great analysis.

      We're seeing that trade sanctions should be effective against aggressive large economies/militaries. Isolate externally and capture assets outside of country (liquidate as needed to cover expenses their countries are incurring - the rich will pay attention).

      Also, this causes the situation to be a test of the people. How long and how deep down the financial ruin road do they want to go to support a war effort?

      In this situation, as would likely be the case if other large economies engaged in

  • the impact on Russian military morale -- knowing that your country's enemies have your personal details and can contact your family if you're captured, killed, or even still alive -- won't be insignificant

    To be honest, if I were sent to die in a war, the fact that the enemy knows my phone number would be the last of my worries.
    If anything, my morale would be more impacted by knowning that the organization that is requesting me to give my own life are so inadequate that they aren't even able to keep the d

  • Really begins to be a dirty war. Calling family and agonizing them comes close to torture which is against UN rules for combat. With all the news I hear/read about how Ukraine deals with a lot, I'm beginning to become less sympathetic for their cause. Ofcourse Russia should not be invading the country.
  • We should call them and let them know.

  • I'm wonder why the numerous operations by Anonymous against Putin and his regime are not appearing on Slashdot?

    They certainly seem to fit the bill as stuff that matter to geeks .

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