AirPods looted by Russians giving away their location via Find My

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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A Ukrainian man has been tracking the movements of retreating Russian forces using a pair of AirPods stolen from his home near Kyiv.

Apple AirPods Pro
Apple AirPods Pro


Vitaliy Semenets told The Times of London that his Apple Bluetooth headphones were swiped by Russian forces from his home in Hostomel. Soon after they were stolen, Semenets realized he could track the AirPods' movement using the Find My app.

The location tracking apparently showed the movements of Russian forces as they retreated from an initial plan to attack the capital city of Kyiv. The forces crossed the border into Belarus and eventually reached Belgorod, where Russia is amassing troops for an assault on the eastern region of Donbas.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vitaliy Semenets (@vitaliysemenets)

Semenets posted an image of his stolen AirPods on the Find My app to Instagram, tagging Apple and writing in Ukrainian that "thanks to technology, I know where my AirPods [are] now."

The post has accumulated more than 28,000 likes, with at least one commenter tagging Apple and asking the company to get him a replacement pair of headphones.

This is not the first time that everyday consumer technology has played a part in the war in Ukraine. Early on in the invasion, Google Maps and Apple Maps began giving away the location of Russian armor. Ukrainian forces have also been using apps like Telegram to collect open-source intelligence on invading Russian forces.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,128member
    ... is this an opt in or out feature ...?
    edited April 2022
  • Reply 2 of 20
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    We were told Russia had the most advanced and powerful military in the world. Then we were told most of Russia’s army is composed of conscripts. Apparently those conscripts are complete dumb asses when it comes to technology. And why aren’t the generals and field commanders aware of this tracking ability?
    jony0
  • Reply 3 of 20
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,082member
    If he were willing to forego bragging rights, he could keep this a secret and improve the chances of himself and others being able to continue to do this. 
    fred1davenjony0
  • Reply 4 of 20
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,269member
    bobolicious said:
    ... is this an opt in or out feature ...?
    That’s actually a great point. You turn the feature on using your phone. 
  • Reply 5 of 20
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    lkrupp said:
    We were told Russia had the most advanced and powerful military in the world. 
    Who told you that?
    dewmeCelticPaddyravnorodomnarwhal
  • Reply 6 of 20
    darkvaderdarkvader Posts: 1,134member
    lkrupp said:
    We were told Russia had the most advanced and powerful military in the world. Then we were told most of Russia’s army is composed of conscripts. Apparently those conscripts are complete dumb asses when it comes to technology. And why aren’t the generals and field commanders aware of this tracking ability?

    Haven't you seen the dead general list lately?  It's currently at 7 confirmed and 2 more probable.

    And given there were reportedly 20 Russian generals sent to Ukraine... that's an astonishing loss rate even for an incompetent military like Russia.
    gregoriusmbonobobjas99ravnorodomdrdavidseanjjony0
  • Reply 7 of 20
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    crowley said:
    lkrupp said:
    We were told Russia had the most advanced and powerful military in the world. 
    Who told you that?
    CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, FOX, NYT, et al. So did the various retired U.S. generals flapping their gums on those news channels. They all predicted a quick victory by the vaunted Russian military machine over the outnumbered, out gunned Ukrainians. I guess you weren’t paying attention.
    williamhITGUYINSDjony0
  • Reply 8 of 20
    arktosarktos Posts: 1member
    Funny, this feature never works to help me find my AirPods.
  • Reply 9 of 20
    geekmeegeekmee Posts: 624member
    lkrupp said:
    crowley said:
    lkrupp said:
    We were told Russia had the most advanced and powerful military in the world. 
    Who told you that?
    CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, FOX, NYT, et al. So did the various retired U.S. generals flapping their gums on those news channels. They all predicted a quick victory by the vaunted Russian military machine over the outnumbered, out gunned Ukrainians. I guess you weren’t paying attention.
    It doesn’t matter…
    They already sold the eyeballs, that’s the goal.
    edited April 2022
  • Reply 10 of 20
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,082member
    lkrupp said:
    crowley said:
    lkrupp said:
    We were told Russia had the most advanced and powerful military in the world. 
    Who told you that?
    CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, FOX, NYT, et al. So did the various retired U.S. generals flapping their gums on those news channels. They all predicted a quick victory by the vaunted Russian military machine over the outnumbered, out gunned Ukrainians. I guess you weren’t paying attention.
    Predicting a quick victory over Ukraine does not mean that the Russian military was considered more advanced or powerful than that of the United States, and I doubt that the sources you cite all claimed that it was. The U.S. has about 40% more people in active service and a much bigger budget ($740 billion vs. $42 billion). There are other factors involved beyond resources and headcounts, of course, but it’s hard to imagine a consensus of U.S. generals claiming that Russia’s military is superior overall.
    dewmeCelticPaddybonobobdrdavidjony0
  • Reply 11 of 20
    AppleishAppleish Posts: 646member
    Good. Seek and destroy these monsters, Ukraine.
    elijahgpayecoseanjjony0
  • Reply 12 of 20
    TenApplesUpOnTopTenApplesUpOnTop Posts: 54member
    lkrupp said:
    We were told Russia had the most advanced and powerful military in the world. Then we were told most of Russia’s army is composed of conscripts. Apparently those conscripts are complete dumb asses when it comes to technology. And why aren’t the generals and field commanders aware of this tracking ability?
    How else are we going to justify our 800 billion defense budget if we don’t have any scary bogeymen to fight?
    waveparticlefred1DavidEsratilooplessjony0
  • Reply 13 of 20
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    lkrupp said:
    crowley said:
    lkrupp said:
    We were told Russia had the most advanced and powerful military in the world. 
    Who told you that?
    CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, FOX, NYT, et al. So did the various retired U.S. generals flapping their gums on those news channels. They all predicted a quick victory by the vaunted Russian military machine over the outnumbered, out gunned Ukrainians. I guess you weren’t paying attention.
    I don't recall anyone ever saying that Russia had the most advanced and powerful military in the world.  I would be very surprised at anyone in the American news media or military complex saying that.

    Believing that they would be very effective against Ukraine is a damn sight different from saying they're the supreme force of the entire world.
    dewmehmlongcoelijahgCelticPaddybonobobdrdavidseanjjony0
  • Reply 14 of 20
    XedXed Posts: 2,217member
    crowley said:
    lkrupp said:
    crowley said:
    lkrupp said:
    We were told Russia had the most advanced and powerful military in the world. 
    Who told you that?
    CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, FOX, NYT, et al. So did the various retired U.S. generals flapping their gums on those news channels. They all predicted a quick victory by the vaunted Russian military machine over the outnumbered, out gunned Ukrainians. I guess you weren’t paying attention.
    I don't recall anyone ever saying that Russia had the most advanced and powerful military in the world.  I would be very surprised at anyone in the American news media or military complex saying that.

    Believing that they would be very effective against Ukraine is a damn sight different from saying they're the supreme force of the entire world.
    All I can recall is Trump calling Putin a genius for murdering Ukrainians and called the Russian military the strongest peace force. 

    For the most part I think the world thought Russia had a more powerful and organized military than they have done started over the last 2 months.
    edited April 2022 sconosciutosphericelijahg13485crowleydrdaviddewmejony0
  • Reply 15 of 20
    sconosciutosconosciuto Posts: 259member
    this guy is worth reading esp. with respect to the Russian army


    Why Russian army is so weak?
    https://mobile.twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1502673952572854278

    Thread of threads: start with #1, currently goes to #42
    https://mobile.twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1498377757536968711

    crowleyjony0
  • Reply 16 of 20
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,761member
    If he were willing to forego bragging rights, he could keep this a secret and improve the chances of himself and others being able to continue to do this. 
    Great point & exactly what I thought. Everyone else seems to be preparing for the typical AI argument whenever anything politically adjacent gets introduced, and have completely overlooked your post. It’s really the most important question, though. Imagine if the Germans were told that Enigma had been cracked. Why not just stfu and keep it to yourself ffs? Loose lips…
    edited April 2022 13485dewmejony0
  • Reply 17 of 20
    CelticPaddyCelticPaddy Posts: 42member
    lkrupp said:
    crowley said:
    lkrupp said:
    We were told Russia had the most advanced and powerful military in the world. 
    Who told you that?
    CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, FOX, NYT, et al. So did the various retired U.S. generals flapping their gums on those news channels. They all predicted a quick victory by the vaunted Russian military machine over the outnumbered, out gunned Ukrainians. I guess you weren’t paying attention.
     Nobody on any of those channels ever said that “Russia has the most advanced and powerful military in the world.”  Predicting a quick victory over Ukraine doesn’t equate to that. Sounds more like you weren’t paying attention. The United States has the most advanced and powerful military in the world. 
    bonobobdewme
  • Reply 18 of 20
    1348513485 Posts: 307member
    Japhey said:
    If he were willing to forego bragging rights, he could keep this a secret and improve the chances of himself and others being able to continue to do this. 
    Great point & exactly what I thought. Everyone else seems to be preparing for the typical AI argument whenever anything politically adjacent gets introduced, and have completely overlooked your post. It’s really the most important question, though. Imagine if the Germans were told that Enigma had been cracked. Why not just stfu and keep it to yourself ffs? Loose lips…
    Agreed, just like the cell phone calls that were intercepted by the UKR. Just stfu and tell us after this bastard is over. 
    Japheydewmejony0
  • Reply 19 of 20
    MrBunsideMrBunside Posts: 55member
    Will Airpods provide their location via nearby iPhones, the way the Airtag does?

    If so, wouldn't some anti-stalking warning be triggered?

    If not, then wouldn't they have had to steal his iPhone too?
  • Reply 20 of 20
    ravnorodomravnorodom Posts: 681member
    Russia does have the second largest nuclear warhead in the world after USA. I think that's where the confusion started. Advanced weapons are definitely not.
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