Ukrainian hackers target former Russian commander’s computer, reveal key findings

The National Resistance Center of Ukraine reported the information.

The virus spread to several devices in the main headquarters of the Russian group. The surveillance operation lasted over a year and a half, allowing access to information about Russia’s plans, troop locations, and reconnaissance resources. Some of the gathered material was passed on to analysts at the National Resistance Center. With the active phase of the operation now complete, certain details have been made public.

"Hero of the Special Military Operation" indifferent to the frontline

If you were to piece together the portrait of Romanchuk from publications by certain Russian "war correspondents" on Telegram, he would appear as a true Rambo, with the intellect of Clausewitz or Sun Tzu, who almost single-handedly halted the Ukrainian advance on the Zaporizhzhia front in 2023.

Romanchuk is being awarded the rank of Colonel General by the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Gerasimov, in the presence of the then-commander of the Russian invasion forces in Ukraine, Surovikin, just before his deployment to the Zaporizhzhia region in February 2023. The photo is from Romanchuk's personal archive.

The Rybar channel publication states that Romanchuk, during his deployment to Syria, captured a tank, "organized a fire carousel," and "rescued 40 soldiers from the encirclement."

Screenshot translation: 

The Russian Defense Ministry has revealed the commander of the Zaporizhzhia direction - Colonel General Alexander Vladimirovich Romanchuk.

Project manager @rybar Mikhail Zvinchuk was his personal military interpreter in 2015-2016 in Syria, when General Romanchuk served as chief of staff of the entire grouping.

Together they came out of the encirclement near Khanasir on February 23, 2016 (General Romanchuk then with two security men captured an ISIL tank and then arranged a fire carousel). His personal merit then was saving the lives of 40 officers and contractors from the “cauldron”.

Another popular channel, Children of Arbat (Deti Arbata), includes Romanchuk in the list of the ten most talented Russian military commanders, while the channel Neighbor states that Romanchuk was a key figure in the Russian defense in Zaporizhzhia in 2023.

Screenshot translation:

Rating of military leaders. Analysis by the Children of Arbat.

10th place

Colonel-General Romanchuk

Our rating begins with Alexander Romanchuk, head of the All-Russian Military Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and a well-known figure to a wide audience. In the summer of 2023, during the tense situation on the Zaporizhzhia front: as the Ukrainian Armed Forces prepared for a large-scale offensive, the commander of the group was assigned the task of determining the direction of the main blow by the enemy, which he successfully managed.

With such a reputation, Romanchuk was granted the honor of leading the May 9, 2024, Victory Day parade in Moscow.

In reality, under Romanchuk's command on the Zaporizhzhia front, Russian forces traditionally flooded the frontline with "cannon fodder." This became clear in detail through the publication of statistics by Captain Vyacheslav Dondokov from Buryatia, who led the 42nd Medical Battalion's tactical group in the area at the time.

One single Russian tactical medical group (stabilization point) was receiving over 1,100 wounded per month. According to Ukrainian intelligence, there were at least 11 such groups in the Zaporizhzhia region. This means that in 2023, Russian forces were losing over 12,000 men monthly just due to injuries.

Did Romanchuk attempt to improve the situation for his soldiers or take unconventional steps by continuously studying the situation on the front line?

The most striking discovery made by analysts at the National Resistance Center (NRC) was that the "heroic" general, despite holding the position of commander of a major front, showed no interest in the frontline situation whatsoever. This claim is not an exaggeration—Romanchuk borderline neglected his responsibilities. The Ukrainian Armed Forces had full access to his personal computer and recorded all actions when he used the device. They also had complete access to his email and social media accounts.

Romanchuk had a very peculiar way of spending his working hours. According to his computer activity, he spent the majority of his time browsing real estate listings for country houses and apartments for his family... or selecting women on a dating site for personal purposes.

This is a complete record of the activities on the work computer of the commander of the Russian Armed Forces in the Zaporizhzhia direction for one day. The date was June 7, 2023, at the height of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. The Russian commander did nothing on his computer related to military command. The following day, Romanchuk would report on the battle results directly to Putin, as reported by the Russian press.

Romanchuk and "war correspondents"

Another layer of information reveals how Romanchuk gained his reputation as a “wise general.” Most likely, by simply harassing those who disagree with him. A significant part of Romanchuk's correspondence in the Telegram messenger is taken up by a conversation with a user at +7 914 596 6919. In it, Romanchuk often expresses his opinions on certain content from the war.

A search by phone number revealed that it belongs to Roman Malyshev. He is a Russian military officer with at least the rank of captain, and, judging by the correspondence, an assistant to Romanchuk.

The correspondence with Roman Malyshev is also found in Romanchuk’s email. One of the emails shows that Romanchuk is closely monitoring hostile "war correspondents" and even demands action against the "troublemakers."

In particular, the channels Two Majors and Thirteenth were recognized as the “troublemakers”. Both of them once wrote about the mistakes of the Russian army in the Zaporizhzhia sector. Yegor Guzenko, who wrote under the pseudonym Thirteenth, has now been arrested for allegedly attacking a police officer.

Romanchuk and data on Russian troop positions

Romanchuk himself had very little information about the actions of the Russian army on the Zaporizhzhia front due to his lack of interest in his own work. However, through the general, it was possible to gain access to other devices in the headquarters of the Russian grouping on the Zaporizhzhia front. Publishing the obtained information in full is still not possible. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to obtain maps showing the locations of Russian surveillance cameras near the frontline, which they used to monitor the movements of Ukrainian units.

Data about the locations of Russian warehouses, observation points, ammunition stockpiles, and troop concentrations was also obtained. These points were marked on an electronic map, as shown in the example from the screenshot.

In addition to electronic maps, access was obtained to photographs of detailed paper maps showing the positions of Russian units.

Moreover, a substantial amount of documentation on the internal operations of the Russian grouping's headquarters was acquired. This includes combat reports, memos, and various summaries. These summaries reveal that, according to the Russian army, "there are no losses," and drones are supposedly being downed almost barehanded. Here are a few examples, now outdated in terms of intelligence value, for a full assessment.

Link: URGENT COMBAT REPORT 35th Army No. 272/1/1672

Link: Report of the Chief of Staff of the 35th Army on the situation as of 11:30, January 24, 2024

Link: Operational staff work plan for planning combat operations and organizing fire damage for January 24, 2024

Romanchuk's family and mobilization in Russia

An important topic is the behavior of the "brilliant commander" in the context of mobilization in Russia. Despite the triumphant claims by the Russian authorities that mobilization issues exist only in Ukraine, this is far from the truth. The discussion regarding those mobilized specifically to repel Ukraine's offensive in 2023, and their current conditions, is a sensitive topic for the Russian state, though it rarely makes its way to the pages of leading state media. Traces of this issue frequently appear in the posts of the same "troublesome war correspondents," who recount endless instances of the "disposal" of mobilized soldiers during assaults.

The son of Colonel General Romanchuk, Vladimir Romanchuk, born in 1992, is over 30 years old and fully capable of serving in the military, having also received specialized military education. However, in the summer of 2023, instead of joining the army, the younger Romanchuk embarked on an extended vacation abroad.

During the bloody battles and losses of Russian troops in Ukraine, Romanchuk Jr. visited the popular amusement park "Window of the World" in Shenzhen, China.

He also stopped at a campsite near the beautiful Issyk-Kul Lake in Kyrgyzstan.

Meanwhile, those mobilized to repel Ukraine's offensive in 2023 are still kept within the ranks of the Russian army without receiving any substantial contract bonuses, which were introduced later. At the same time, the "brilliant commander" Romanchuk continues to earn new awards and fame.

• Colonel Alexei Kolomeitsev, the head of the 924th State Center for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles of the Russian Defense Ministry, was killed in the Moscow region.