Who is assembling Geran-2: Ukrainian hackers hacked the Russian manufacturer of UAVs

The Russians used encrypted names in correspondence and other documents. Drones were “boats” and their explosives were called “bumpers”. Investigators emphasize that the special economic zone “Alabuga” in Tatarstan — a legitimate military objective.

Ukrainian hackers hacked the Russian manufacturer of Geran-2 kamikaze attack drones. This was reported by the international intelligence community InformNapalm.

On April 2, 2024, the Defense Forces of Ukraine struck with kamikaze drones on the territory of the so-called special economic zone “Alabuga” in Tatarstan. The target of the attack was the factory in Yelabuz, where the Russians assemble the Iranian “Shahed 136”, under the Russian marking “Geran-2”, which periodically attack civilian infrastructure objects in Ukraine.

Investigators established that in Yelabuz no they only produce kamikaze drones in a separate workshop, but also the entire territory of “Alabuga” – it is a solid military object that is a legitimate military target for destruction.

“Ukrainian hackers of the Cyber ​​Resistance team, in cooperation with the international intelligence community InformNapalm, conducted a multi-level CYBINT operation, during which they obtained more than 100 GB of information and closed data of Albatros LLC.” This data includes thousands of pages of internal documentation, technical data and drawings of various types of Albatros UAVs. Materials that confirm the ways of circumventing sanctions on the part of the Russian Federation. And documents related to the production of “Shahed 136” kamikaze drones, also known in the public space as “Geran-2”, — the message says.

Albatross

Thanks to hacking by hackers “Cyber ​​Resistance” LLC “Albatross” – of the Russian drone manufacturer, hackers obtained more than 100 GB of internal company data thanks to access to the personal data of the CEO of this company – Aleksey Florova.

It was established that Albatros LLC has been producing drones since 2017 and was initially located in the Moscow region. However, starting in 2023, the company becomes a resident of Alabuga.

In December 2023, the USA introduced sanctions against 28 companies from Russia. Two of them – residents of the SEZ “Alabuga”. It is about Albatros LLC, which produces drones, and Dolphin Alabuga, which produces motor boats.

In January 2023, RBC Tatarstan published the news that drones and motor boats will be produced in Alabuz. Albatros LLC and Dolphin Alabuga LLC appeared in the publication. In June 2023, a spokesman in the United States reported that Iran was supplying Russia with equipment for a joint production of kamikaze drones. Then the media said that the plant was being built on the territory of the SEZ “Alabuga”, and the White House published a photo of the probable location of the workshops where production takes place.

Thanks to the leak, it became clear that the Russians used code names in their correspondence and other documents: the drones were “boats” (“motornye лодки”), their explosives were “bumpers”. It also became clear from the leak that the “Shahed-136” unmanned aerial vehicle, which in Russia is marked as “Geranium-2”, is listed in the documents as a Dolphin 632 motor boat. That is, a dolphin.

Thus, in March 2024, a visit to Alabuga was planned by the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Andriy Belousov, who also serves as the head of the Government Commission on the Development of Unmanned Aviation Systems. The plans for his visit included a visit to the “working factories of Albatross and Dolphin”

Analysts found out that the power of Albatross &ndash this is 1000 BpLA per year. In addition to drones, the company produces instruments and devices for measurement, testing and navigation.

Who is involved in the production of “Geraney-Shakheds”

Thanks to letters from the data set, analysts have established who exactly is working not only on the creation of drones in Yelabuz, but also on establishing cooperation with Iran in this field.

In the first letter – request of Ramis Sakhabutdinov, senior security and access control specialist of OEZ PVT “Alabuga” JSC. He asks to quickly conduct a questionnaire for a number of employees, because a request was received from “higher-ranking colleagues”. All employees who should fill out questionnaires are allegedly involved in the production of “motor boats “. The information that the workers had to submit concerns their possession of foreign passports, their trips abroad, information about relatives and the degree of kinship.

“It is obvious that the manufacturers of “motor boats” are closely watched by the security service, — believe in InformNapalm.

The main designer of motor boats at the plant is Kostiantyn Spiridonov. In networks, he calls himself “Fighter pilot” or “sniper pilot” and is often online. Access to old photos on it. All of them testify to Spiridonov's by no means “sea” orientation of interests.

In 2020, Spiridonov stated in an interview that his main work – this is the design of “Albatross” drones.

Yevhenii Makhnutin, head of one of the departments in the “Management” group of the “motor boat” production department, is also involved in the production of BplA in Alabuz. He — a recruiter who got a job at “Alabuga” back in November 2022. He is looking for the necessary personnel not only for the production of UAVs, but also in general for other residents of the special economic zone. Previously, Makhnutiv traveled the territory of the Russian Federation and called on university students to move to Yelabuga.

During the consideration of the document “Cyber ​​Resistance” about the “motorboat project managers”, attention was drawn to the person of Viktor Plugatiryov, who was born on November 10, 2006 and at the age of 18, he holds the position of “specialist of the motor boat production support department”.

Activists of Cyber ​​Resistance handed over the full list of employees of the “motor boat project” to the volunteers of the “Peacemaker” project.

Contacts with Iran

One of the documents from the mass of information received indicates the development of drones in Yelabuz exactly according to the Iranian model – this is a letter requiring a number of employees to submit travel reports for 2023. According to the document, it can be seen that several employees flew to Tehran on a business trip.