A top-secret British facility in Ukraine could be at risk of being targeted by Russian bombs and drones after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) posted a video online that could identify it.
The MoD uploaded the video online on Saturday morning that showed Defence Minister Luke Pollard walking around the facility and bragging about the extent of British assistance to Ukraine.
The video was posted alongside a Guardian article that was intended to ‘reveal’ the facility where British engineers help to fix damaged Ukrainian hardware, but not its secret location.
The video, in what is meant to be an unmarked location, could be ‘geo-located’ based on what can be seen outside the windows of the facility, according to experts.
Pollard even described the surroundings of the facility in the video.
This means that Russia could use the video to locate the facility and destroy it with its arsenal of bombs, drones or missiles – putting British and Ukrainian lives at risk.
The MoD took down the video within hours.
‘Geo-locating’ is the process of identifying where something is based on a video or photo of that area. Landmarks, surroundings and even shadows can help determine where something is.
The blunder was posted online by the MoD on Saturday morning and showed defence Minister Luke Pollard walking around the facility and bragging about British help to Ukraine
AI geo-locaters can be found online that can pinpoint the location of a photo in seconds.
The video reportedly had hundreds of thousands of views on social media platform X before it was taken down by the MoD.
The Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard bragged bragged that the facility was an example of Britain doing things ‘that no other nation has been willing or able to do’.
He said on his visit to the facility: ‘The UK will never waver in our support for Ukraine and we are clear that Ukraine’s security is Britain’s security.
‘Our pioneering facilities are helping keep Ukraine’s defiant Armed Forces in the fight against Putin’s brutal attacks.’
But the Minister was widely mocked online for potentially revealing the location of the facility and putting British lives at risk.
Matthew Ford, associate professor of war studies at the Swedish Defence University, posed on X: ‘A proper f*** up. Way worse than half the nonsense we’ve been talking about re: Iran this past week.
‘UK can barely tie its shoelaces let alone fight a conventional war.
‘[Luke Pollard] needs to be sacked.’
An associate defence professor demanded that Mr Pollard resign after posting the video on social media
Another posted on X: ‘This must be one of the stupidest tweets ever posted – easily enabling geolocation by our enemies, just for the sake of trying to make a Labour Government Minister look as if he’s doing something useful or good.’
The facility, along with three other similar sites in Ukraine has been kept quiet for years to avoid drawing too much attention to the facilities – so to keep them shielded from Russia’s relentless bombardment.
It was set up to help Ukrainian forces fix damaged hardware and vehicles such as the British-made AS-90 self-propelled howitzers.
The facility can repair up to 30 pieces of equipment at one time and work on weapon systems including artillery.
While there are no British military personnel at the facility, British engineers contracted by the MoD are present.
The British engineers come from BAE Systems and AMS and work alongside Ukrainians to repair damaged equipment in the war.
Mr Pollard told the Guardian, which also visited and posted photos of the facility, that the facility was a ‘risk worth taking’.
In February, Defence Secretary John Healey vowed to put British soldiers on the ground in Ukraine before the end of 2026.
It adds further embarrassment to Labour and the MoD after the government failed to deploy a warship to Cyprus after it was attacked by Iranian drones.
Type 45 air defence destroyer HMS Dragon (pictured loading with missiles) will not be ready to set sail for the Eastern Mediterranean from Portsmouth until next week
Keir Starmer finally ordered the deployment of HMS Dragon on Tuesday, amid fury that the crucial site had been left vulnerable to Iranian reprisals.
Instead, Greek, Spanish, French and Italian vessels have been covering to intercept missiles and drones in what critics have decried as a ‘humiliation’ for the UK.
HMS Dragon is still being prepared in dock at Portsmouth, and is not expected to leave until next week.
A spokesman for the MoD said: ‘Safety is of paramount importance. Out of an abundance of caution we removed the social media post after concerns were raised while we investigate. We have also been in contact with relevant authorities on the ground as a precautionary measure.’
Labour was contacted for comment but preferred the MoD to answer.
