Posting a picture of himself on the beach in Crimea, a Russian tourist accidentally revealed the location of an air defense system. In the photo, the man poses in swimming trunks while a battery of surface-to-air missiles can be seen in the background.
The most zealous of the internet were then able to locate the system, supposed to be the most sophisticated in Russia, on a plateau near the city of Yevpatoria. This location is also identical to that of the reports of the Russian governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, who declared the presence of anti-aircraft systems in the region during the weekend.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense thus took note of the location of the anti-aircraft battery and ironically thanked the tourist.
“Perhaps we are too hard on Russian tourists”,can we read it in the tweet.“Sometimes they can be very helpful, he adds. Like this man taking photos of Russian air defense positions near Yevpatoria, occupied Crimea.”
The precision of the geolocation was made possible by Benjamin Pittet, a specialist in Open Source Intelligence. The latter had already spotted a first photo near the lake at the end of July, which also revealed Russian machines. Journalist Mark Krutov, who worked with the specialist, explains to Radio Liberté that the public coordinates made the researcher’s task easier.
The fate of the anti-aircraft battery still remains unknown.