A Proficient Chinese Spy Helped a Ukrainian Tech Team Jam Russian Drones

The spy stole Shahed drone navigation tech specs 'within weeks'

The 12-antenna navigation receiver on a new Shahed. Via Night Watch

In mid-August 2022, the first Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones began appearing in the sky over Ukraine. Thirty-four months later, Russian forces are launching more than 100 of the 440-pound, propeller-driven, flying munitions every day.

Stopping the explosive Shaheds is one of Ukraine’s most urgent priorities. Which is why, in late 2023, an elite Ukrainian tech team recruited a very skilled Chinese spy. The spy swiftly stole hardware, documents and software that helped the Night Watch team develop a new jammer that could force the Shaheds off course.

Thanks to that spy, many Shaheds “crashed in fields, lakes—or even drifted into Romania and Moldova,” said “Alchemist,” the commander of the expanding Night Watch team.

What’s most impressive is how quickly the agent worked. They got their hands on a receiver, associated factory documents and computer code for the latest Shahed models “within weeks” of Night Watch recruiting them, Alchemist said.