‘The main vulnerability is people’: YouControl analyses how Russia obtains information about defence enterprises

YouControl has published research into how Russia gathers information about Ukraine’s defence industry. Specialists analysed over 7,000 news items from the Security Service of Ukraine website and identified which methods of obtaining information appear most frequently in the security service’s reports from 2020–2026.

131 of 7,632 news items relate directly to the exposure of a threat to the defence-industrial complex.

Across the entire dataset, analysts distinguish two types of channels for obtaining information: internal and external. Internally, they can obtain data by recruiting employees, using agent networks, and stealing secret technical documentation.

If the Russians do not have a spy on the inside, they obtain information externally – through their own intelligence, by recruiting residents, or via social media, where they find the photos/videos they need. In addition, the enemy has connected to external IP cameras located near defence plants.

YouControl specialists also found 14 publications about cases when classified information leaked externally through employees of law enforcement agencies or other state bodies.

Overall, the study recorded cases involving the State Tax Service/State Fiscal Service, the Prosecutor’s Office, the SSU, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, the State Border Guard Service, the penitentiary system, as well as the databases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Migration Service.