Researchers uncover secretive Russian spy unit by studying its commemorative badges
July 21, 2025 2 Comments
A GROUP OF RESEARCHERS in Finland have managed to outline the structure and geographic footprint of a highly secretive Russian signals intelligence (SIGINT) unit by studying commemorative badges issued by the Russian government. The research group, known as CheckFirst, specializes in open-source (OSINT) investigative reporting and works to combat online disinformation.
Earlier this month, CheckFirst published its latest report titled “OSINT & Phaleristics: Unveiling FSB’s 16th Center SIGINT Capabilities”. The 36-page report focuses on the study of Russian government-issued commemorative badges—also known as challenge coins—relating to Center 16 (16-й Центр). Also known as Military Unit 71330, Center 16 is a secretive SIGINT unit that houses most of the cyber espionage capabilities of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Challenge coins are custom-made medallions given by military, intelligence, and government agencies to recognize service, commemorate achievements, or build morale. Originating in the United States military during World War I, and popularized during the Vietnam War, challenge coins are routinely exchanged in ceremonies or offered to personnel as tokens of camaraderie and loyalty within a specific unit or mission.
Often regarded as collectors’ items, challenge coins from various agencies are often resold on websites such as eBay, or displayed online on websites maintained by private collectors. CheckFirst researchers tracked down several versions of Center 16 challenge coins found on a variety of publicly available websites, as well as on the websites of Russian challenge coin manufacturers, such as GosZnak, SpetsZnak, or Breget.
Based on this OSINT methodology, CheckFirst researchers were able to identify 10 distinct directorates within Center 16, which specialize on various aspects of defensive and offensive cyber espionage. Previously only a single Center 16 directorate had been identified in the unclassified domain. Moreover, by examining geographic indicators found on several of challenge coins, such as maps or coordinates, CheckFirst researchers were able to partly map out the geographic structure of Center 16, locating nearly a dozen interception facilities throughout Russia.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 21 July 2025 | Permalink
ON MARCH 23, CHANNEL 12 of Israeli television aired a remarkable interview with Sassi Elya, the former director of technology at the Israel Security Agency (ISA). Better known by the acronyms Shin Bet or Shabak, the ISA is Israel’s domestic security service. The interview had initially been scheduled for broadcast as part of the evening news on October 7, 2023. However, its airing was canceled due to the attack on Israel by Hamas, which occurred that morning.
EVEN RUSSIAN MILITARY COMMANDERS and intelligence officials on the ground near the Ukrainian border are in the dark about whether the Kremlin intends to invade Ukraine in the coming weeks, according to a report. The American news network CNN 
For the first time since 1985, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation broke the John Walker spy ring, an active United States Navy officer has been charged with espionage. On Sunday, the US Navy reported the arrest Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin, who faces two counts of espionage and three counts of attempted espionage, among other charges. Aside from a three-page, heavily redacted 
The head of the United States’ largest intelligence agency secretly visited Israel last week, reportedly in order to explore forging closer ties between American and Israeli cyber intelligence experts. Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz 
British and American intelligence services worked together to hack Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles in order to acquire information on the Jewish state’s military intentions in the Middle East, according to documents leaked last week. Online publication The Intercept, said the operation was code-named ANARCHIST and was a joint project of Britain’s General Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and America’s National Security Agency (NSA). The publication said it acquired documents about the operation from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who defected to Russia in 2013 and was offered political asylum by Moscow.
Canada says it will stop sharing certain types of intelligence with some of its closest international allies until it ensures that Canadian citizens’ information is not included in the data given to foreign spy agencies. The announcement follows an official admission, made earlier this week, that a Canadian intelligence agency failed to remove Canadian citizens’ data from information it shared with member-agencies of the so-called Five Eyes Agreement. The pact, which is sometimes referred to as the UK-USA Security Agreement, has been in existence since World War II. It provides a multilateral framework for cooperation in signals intelligence (SIGINT) between the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
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France arrests alleged Chinese spies living in small village—four arrests so far
February 11, 2026 by Joseph Fitsanakis 1 Comment
Two of the arrests took place on-site at a property in Camblanes-et-Meynac, a picturesque village located around 10 miles from Bordeaux in south-western France’s Gironde region. The property had reportedly been rented through the rental broker application Airbnb by two Chinese nationals who arrived in France in January. They are believed to have entered the country using work visas as engineers for a wireless telecommunications firm.
After settling in Camblanes-et-Meynac, the men erected a large parabolic antenna system in the garden of the rented property. The move reportedly alarmed locals, who noticed that their own Internet service experienced disruptions following the erection of the parabolic antenna system by the Chinese nationals. A local family proceeded to alert local authorities about the antenna.
According to reports the DGSI arrested two Chinese nationals aged 27 and 29, while also seizing a substantial quantity of computer and satellite equipment that was found on the property. Two other men reportedly “of Chinese origin” but based in France, were also arrested over the weekend. They were charged with providing assistance to the two residents of the Airbnb property by illegally importing the satellite equipment installed on the property. Their identities have not been released by the authorities.
The French prosecutor’s office stated that the suspects were engaged in efforts to “capture satellite data from the Starlink [mobile broadband] network”. They were also allegedly trying to intercept communications data from “vital entities” in the military realm and “retransmit them to their country of origin”, namely China, according to the statement. They are now in custody facing charges of “delivering information to a foreign power […] likely to damage the interests” of France—a standard phraseology used in the French legal code to describe foreign espionage.
France’s Gironde region has long been an epicenter of espionage by international actors due to its proximity to a growing number of facilities and restricted sites related to critical telecommunication, aerospace, and defense industries. Several small towns and villages in the area are in proximity to the industrial core of France’s defense, space and aeronautics operations.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 11 February 2026 | Permalink
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with China, DGSI (France), espionage, France, News, SIGINT, Starlink, telecommunications