Pokémon Go is suspected of spying on the Belarusian air force

Pikachu ready for battle in Pokémon Go. — Are they catching pokémon or spying on military aircraft? (The Pokémon Company)

We recently saw how the Ukrainian military is using Valve’s Steam Deck to remote control machine gun turrets on the battlefield, in an attempt to reduce the danger to Ukrainian soldiers.

Now a Belarusian military official has said that they suspect gaming has been used in another creative, possibly malicious way: to spy on one of their military bases.

During an interview with a Belarusian talk show, Alexander Ivanov, the ministry’s department head of ideological work, claimed that Pokémon Go was used to gather information about their capabilities.

Ivanov was asked about potential targets for spies, when he said that Pokémon Go might’ve played a part in spy activity, because he saw a suspicious amount of pokémon on their bases.

‘About 10 years ago, it [Pokémon Go] was very popular. What was the point? All teenagers and children were using some kind of application,’ Ivanov said, according to Ukrainian news site UNN, adding:

‘Where did you see the most pokémon, when you think about it? On the territory of the 50th air base, where there is a runway, where there is a lot of military aircraft. There were the most Pokémon. Is this not intelligence information?’

Pokémon Go being played in a garden. — Play in your garden, or a military base (The Pokémon Company)

Russia labelled it a tool for American intelligence agency the CIA, as reported by the New York Times, which the game’s developer, Niantic, has denied.

Additionally, the mobile game was never licensed in China, which later released a Pokémon Go clone called Let’s Hunt Monsters.

Pokémon Go uses augmented reality to place pokémon in the real world using your camera, while relying on your phone’s GPS to place your avatar and the little monsters on a map.

It’s unclear exactly how the app could’ve helped spies but at the very least, encouraging people to explore military bases is something most governments aren’t going to be happy about.