alt Hacker NewsRussians aren't allowed to bring phones on the frontlines apparently but Ukranians often do still as they have the combat management app which is critical to operations. I've always wondered if this is why there's far more published footage of Ukranian combat video than Russian. Beyond the donation incentive they attached to videos when publishing them on Youtube/Telegram.
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Where is the fighting, and who runs the cellular networks in that area?
I’d want to run military communications on a network my side controls
> I've always wondered if this is why there's far more published footage of Ukranian combat video than Russian.
I'm sure Russia's meat wave tactics have more of a role. If you're sending your troops in suicide missions, including guys without weapons and even in crutches, you're not exactly too keen in having them carrying mobile phones to document the experience or even, heavens forbid, survive by surrendering.
I think a large chunk of the footage is taken by gopros or similar, not smartphones.
And I think a pretty much all published Ukrainian and Russian combat footage is vetted by their respective military (who would want to be court martialed for Reddit karma?).
They just take different approaches to what, when and were to release the footage.
In the first weeks of the war you could see Russian armored columns clearly on Google Maps as heavy traffic (along with other military activity but the columns really stood out). https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/28/22954426/google-disables-...