Ukraine killed a Russian general after he made an unsecured call that gave away his location, report

[jobendorfer]

19. Pure speculation on my part

One of the things Putin has to worry about is plotting by his armed forces (which are more than powerful enough to topple him, should they chose to do so).

I would not be surprised to learn that the Russian Army is not allowed to use crypto gear, so that his FSB (or whoever the Russian internal security agency is, these days) can monitor their training activities and operations.

Even if their cell communications were encrypted, just the fact that Ukrainians have access to the towers and could do basic traffic analysis could give away a great deal. For example, my county Sheriff's office often uses tower triangulation to zero in on missing hikers and climbers in the Cascades, using cell tower pings. I would have to imagine that Ukrainian intelligence could that or even more sophisticated things.