Ukrainian hacktivists reveal Belarus aided Russian drone strikes

Ukrainian hackers have uncovered how Russian drone operators rely on Belarus to extend their reach, following sanctions imposed by Ukraine against Alyaksandr Lukashenka on 18 February 2026 for his role in Russia’s war. According to InformNapalm, the sanctions were the culmination of a months‑long cyber operation by Ukrainian hacktivists from the Fenix cyber analytics center, supported by volunteers of InformNapalm.

The operation reportedly helped reveal that in the second half of 2025 Russia deployed a system of repeaters for the control of attack UAVs on Belarusian territory, significantly expanding its ability to strike northern Ukraine from Kyiv to Volyn and making attacks on energy and railway infrastructure more feasible with Belarus’s assistance.

During the campaign, hacktivists broke into the accounts of dozens of Russian military personnel, gaining access to monitoring systems used by attack drone operators, enabling round‑the‑clock covert surveillance and rapid transmission of data to the Ukrainian Defence Forces. The details are also discussed on InformNapalm.