Slovakia’s Interior Ministry, which is looking to modernize its road traffic monitoring system, had planned to procure 279 speed cameras from a Cyprus-based company. However, as Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung reports, the cameras were manufactured in Russia, and the devices’ branding was reportedly changed for delivery to Slovakia.
In early August, the opposition party Progressive Slovakia was the first to raise suspicions about the cameras’ Russian origin. The Interior Ministry initially dismissed the claims, but Slovakia’s National Security Bureau later confirmed that the devices had been manufactured by St. Petersburg-based LLC Simicon.
An analysis conducted by the Bureau uncovered numerous vulnerabilities. In particular, one of the camera models was found to feature a hidden slot for a second SIM card, unaccounted for in the technical documentation. It also emerged that the devices can receive commands via SMS from 12 phone numbers registered in St. Petersburg and Russia’s Kemerovo Region. In light of the findings, the Interior Ministry halted the testing of the new cameras.
The supplier, Cypriot company Sodasus Ltd, presented itself as the manufacturer during negotiations with Slovak authorities. However, as Neue Zürcher Zeitung reports, the entity appears to be a shell company — although it was registered in 2021, no evidence of any commercial activity could be found.
According to Slovak authorities, similar Russian-made road cameras are already in use in several EU countries. The National Security Bureau notes that cameras of the same models are sold by the Croatian company Neroline, which has been working with the administration of the city of Rijeka for 10 years.
In May 2025, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, along with intelligence agencies in the United States and several European countries, published a joint report revealing that hackers working for the Russian military intelligence had gained access to more than 10,000 cameras located near military facilities, railway hubs, and border crossings. The cameras were used to monitor the transfer of equipment and weapons to Ukraine.
According to the published data, around 80% of the compromised cameras were located in Ukraine, with the remainder found in Eastern European countries: Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. The National Cyber Security Centre stressed that Russia was using this method to undermine channels of military and humanitarian support for Kyiv.
The Russian operation was carried out by the hacker group APT28 (also known as Fancy Bear), a unit of the GRU’s 85th Main Special Services Center (Military Unit No. 26165, Moscow). According to U.S. authorities, the unit is staffed by career officers of Russian military intelligence. Fancy Bear has previously been accused of hacking the email accounts of the U.S. Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton. It is also suspected of carrying out cyberattacks against the German Bundestag, the OPCW, and other Western institutions. In 2020, the EU imposed sanctions on GRU chief Igor Kostyukov and his subordinates from the 85th Special Services Center.
