Detecting Russian ‘carrots’ and ‘tea bags’: Ukraine decodes enemy chatter to save lives

A Ukrainian officer Maksym listens to Russian chatter in a shelter near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Jan 24, 2024. Ukrainian forces are increasingly resorting to an age-old tactic – intelligence gleaned from radio intercepts – in a desperate effort to preserve their most vital resources. The painstaking work of eavesdropping is part of a larger effort to beef up and refine electronic warfare capabilities so that soldiers can be warned earlier of impending attacks, while having the battlefield intelligence needed to make their own strikes more deadly. — AP

SEREBRYANSKY FOREST, Ukraine: As the radio crackles with enemy communications that are hard to decipher, one Russian command rings out clear: “Brew five Chinese tea bags on 38 orange.”

A Ukrainian soldier known on the battlefield as Mikhass is able to quickly decode the gibberish. It means: Prepare five Beijing-made artillery shells and fire them on a specific Ukrainian position in the Serebryansky Forest, which forms the front line in the country’s restive northeast.