‘The Bosses Live on Another Planet’ – Ukraine at War Update for July 24

This week, the Russian Duma, the lower house of the legislature, drafted a law that would punish Russian soldiers for using their smartphones on the battlefield in Ukraine, Russian state media TASS reported. Cell phones can help Ukrainian defenders identify the occupying forces’ locations, and in the past their conversations have been intercepted by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and the nation’s security services, in order to publicize the invading forces’ declining morale.

Moscow’s lawmakers proposed that those soldiers carrying internet-connected phones whose data can identify occupying troops’ location will be classified as a “gross disciplinary offense” punishable by up to 10 days of arrest. The law would also forbid the use of other electronic devices meant for “household purposes” which allow for the transmission of geolocation data.

Ukrainian soldiers have been warned for a long time that their use of cell phones to communicate with colleagues and family are exploited regularly by Moscow and its hackers to steal sensitive battlefield information.

According to reports from CNN, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) also said that “Russian hackers had sought to infiltrate the Android tablets used by the Ukrainian military for ‘planning and performing combat missions,’ using code designed to steal data sent from the devices to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system, which have been crucial to Ukraine’s battlefield communications.”

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Russian military bloggers are criticizing the proposed legislation, claiming it shows Moscow’s lack of understanding of the nature of modern warfare on the ground.

“The bosses live on another planet,” one blogger, called “Obsessed with the Z War,” wrote on Telegram on Monday, CNN reported.

On high alert for Paris Olympics, French raid apartment of Russian national on ‘destabilization’ suspicions, as 900 suspected foreign agents barred from attending the Games

While details remained scarce on Tuesday night, French prosecutors have announced the arrest of a Russian man suspected of plotting acts of “destabilization” during the Paris Olympics, which kick off on Friday.

The French Interior Ministry reportedly authorized a search of the suspect’s home which turned up evidence of the alleged plot. The plan was not terrorist in nature, AFP reported.

The 30-something male was held in custody and placed under judicial investigation on suspicion of “organizing events likely to lead to destabilization during the Olympic Games,” a source in the state prosecution service, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

The AFP’s source said only that an investigation was opened into “passing intelligence to a foreign power in order to arouse hostilities in France,” adding that the crime was punishable by up to 30 years in jail.

AFP said that authorities have investigated more than one million people, “including athletes, coaches, journalists, volunteers, security guards and even local residents near event locations ahead of the Olympics,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said in an interview on Tuesday. Of those, he said, 4,360 were denied access to the Games, almost 900 of whom were were barred over suspicions of foreign interference.

Russian missiles and other munitions kill two, injure six in Donetsk region

Russian attacks, including from what are believed to have been Iskander missiles, killed two civilians in the Donetsk region and injured at least six others on Tuesday.

“According to the investigation, Russian troops bombarded the town of Lyman at 17:20 on 23 July 2024. The munitions hit a residential area, killing two local residents, 58 and 66,” the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office said.

Two women, 50 and 74, and a man, 51, also sustained injuries of moderate severity, Ukrainska Pravda reported. The Russians “presumably used Iskander missiles,” it reported.

That same day, Moscow’s troops hit civilian targets in the city of Novohrodivka with a drone, injuring three civilians aged 49 to 68 driving on a local road.

Security services charge Odesa region resident with plotting railroad arson and reporting AFU movements to Moscow

On Tuesday, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced that it has detained an alleged Russian spy, charged with preparing a series of arson attacks against railroad facilities and monitoring military deployment sites in Odesa, presumably to coordinate Russian missile strikes against them.

He faces life in prison if found guilty on charges of sabotage and illegal handling of ammunition.

State media outlet Ukrinform reported that his Russian handlers told him to focus on Ukraine’s air defense capabilities protecting the airspace over the city. The suspect, a resident who had previously lived in Russia, was also “tasked with damaging or destroying railway infrastructure” including traffic lights, Ukrinform wrote.

SBU officials said his father lives in Russia, where the 39-year-old suspect was reportedly approached by Russian security service recruiters.

The unnamed suspect was caught soon after igniting a fire to a railway in the Odesa area, and the SBU believes he had additional arson attempts planned. The security services have also apprehended a man they believe to be his accomplice.