UK spies track Russian troops through dating app Grindr & social networking sites: Report

The United Kingdom intelligence services monitored the Russian invasion of Ukraine by tracking soldiers using social networking sites including the gay dating app Grindr, The Daily Mail reported. Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24 and UK spies reportedly became increasingly certain of Putin's plans of military action in Ukraine after pressing the messages on social media sites like VKontakte. 

A source revealed that secrets were also shared on dating sites such as Grindr and insisted that these sites worked as a "treasure trove" for UK spies. Soldiers and those involved in the Russian military action were "particularly unguarded." The source added that the spies were "very au fait" with the plans and the impending Russian military aggression in Ukraine and gave details like "movement of blood supplies" to the Moscow soldiers, as per The Daily Mail report. The source further mentioned that the UK intelligence service is helping Ukraine while protecting the information of their sources. 

Russia targeting populated areas in Ukraine: UK Defence Ministry

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its eleventh day on 6 March, Sunday, the UK's Ministry of Defence in its latest update has informed that the scale and strength of Ukrainian resistance have left Russia surprised. As per the updates given by the Ministry of Defence on Twitter, Russia being stunned over Ukraine's strength is now responding by targeting the populated areas like Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol. Furthermore, the UK's Ministry of Defence insisted that Russia is trying to make efforts to break Ukraine's morale and claimed that Russia had taken similar actions in Chechnya and Syria. The ministry added that Russian supply lines reportedly continue to be targeted which has slowed the rate of the approaching ground forces. Moreover, it said there is a possibility of Moscow now trying to "conceal fuel trucks as regular support trucks to minimise losses."

"It has responded by targeting populated areas in multiple locations, including Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Mariupol. This is likely to represent an effort to break Ukrainian morale. Russia has previously used similar tactics in Chechnya in 1999 and Syria in 2016, employing both air and ground-based munitions," UK Defence Ministry said in a statement on Twitter. 

Russia-Ukraine War

Amid the escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia, Mykhaylo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, took to his Twitter handle and claimed that Russia has lost about 11,000 troops, about 300 tanks, more than 40 aircraft and 48 helicopters. Furthermore, dozens of artillery systems have been destroyed in the fighting. On Saturday, Russia had declared a brief ceasefire in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha to allow citizens to evacuate or flee.

Image: AP