In Ukraine, stolen AirPods are used to locate the Russian army

Vitaliy Semenets, a Ukrainian residing in Hostomel (30 km north of kyiv), endured Russian occupation for 35 days at the start of the war. He had the unpleasant surprise of having his property stolen by soldiers who used it at his home. And among those stolen possessions were AirPods.

Russian soldier stealing AirPods found

The user of the headphones, however, did not let himself be dismantled. He posted on instagram screenshots of the Locate application, which geolocates all kinds of objects, including… AirPods. In other words, Vitaliy can track the soldier who stole his headphones! ” Thanks to technology, I know where my headphones are from home “, he writes on the social network. ” They were stolen by Russian orcs from my house in Hostomel “, he adds.

According to the capture posted on April 14, the AirPods were located in Belgorad, a Russian town east of the Ukrainian border. Previously, the thief had traveled to Belarus, an ally country of Vladimir Putin, and passed through the city of Gomel. This location information can be valuable for the Ukrainian army, which can thus locate the Russian enemy quite precisely.

This anecdote should not make us forget the trauma experienced by the inhabitants of the town of Hostomel, occupied for more than a month by Russian soldiers. The latter clearly behaved like a brutal occupying force: 400 people are still considered missing, which does not bode well in view of the atrocities committed by the Russian army in other Ukrainian cities.

On a less serious note, this example of locating AirPods reminds us of the existence of this function which can be very practical for finding the trace of a stolen car, for example. Conversely, privacy advocates deplore the malicious use that can be made of it.