Russian signals officer helped Ukraine kill 300 of his own soldiers

A lieutenant serving as chief signals officer of Russia's 36th Motor Rifle Brigade spent months feeding Ukrainian forces the positions, radio frequencies and operational plans of his own unit, according to a Wall Street Journal account. Strikes supported by his intelligence killed more than 300 Russian soldiers.

One of his first operations came in February 2024, when soldiers and senior officers of the brigade assembled for a training exercise near the front line in eastern Ukraine. Lev Stupnikov photographed the troops, estimated their numbers and sent precise coordinates to his Ukrainian handler. Warned to leave the area, he moved away as the missiles arrived. His handler messaged: "Were there explosions? Send a photo." Stupnikov replied: "There's just meat." He counted 68 dead and 60 wounded, among them the brigade's commander, Colonel Gusein Musayev.

The pattern repeated through the spring. In March 2024, Ukrainian forces killed several officers at a brigade gathering he had identified; two months later a strike on the basement of a former hotel housing assault units killed 20 soldiers, including a captain. Other intelligence from Stupnikov let Ukraine target a brigade command post during a meeting of senior officers. Between the strikes he sabotaged what he could reach — disabling cameras monitoring Ukrainian territory and tampering with a drone controller's battery pack until it overheated mid-mission.

What satellites struggle to see — where men gather, and when — a signals officer reads as part of his daily work. His access to commanders' communications and surveillance feeds made him worth more than any imaging pass. But repeated losses sharpened suspicion, and his superior reportedly began asking whether a spy had infiltrated the unit. Stupnikov then made the mistake that nearly ended him: he sent his handler a screenshot of a map showing the location of his own basement. The next strike hit the building. He survived.

In July 2024 he was told to abandon his weapons and walk to an agreed point near the village of Mykilske. Guided by a Ukrainian drone, he crossed the contested ground between destroyed vehicles, craters and suspected mines while troops watched his movement on thermal-camera footage. Challenged for the password at the Ukrainian lines, he answered: "Peanut shop." After being searched, he handed over a smartphone carrying access codes to several Russian communications channels — reportedly enabling continued live feeds from Russian drones and surveillance cameras.

Stupnikov later joined the Russian Volunteer Corps, a unit of Russians opposed to Putin's rule, and now fights against the army whose communications he once ran.