Police detain 2 teenage founders of Redan PMC youth movement’s Telegram channels
The Cyber Police Division of the National Police of Ukraine have detained the 16- and 13-year-old founders of the Redan PMC Youth Movement's Telegram channels in the cities of Dnipro and Cherkasy.
Source: Press services of the National Police in Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy oblasts
Quote from detainee: "I am the founder of a group with about 2,500 members. I created it to make money from advertising posts, as the topic of Redan is popular on social media.
The concept of ‘Redan’ does not exist in Ukraine. It came from Russia, intending destabilisation. I ask everyone to stop organising meetings and looking for Redanists who do not exist in Ukraine. Better help our soldiers. I am deleting my group and asking others not to create similar ones."
Details: The police report that an advertisement cost US$10. The Telegram channel has been blocked. Law enforcement officers are in contact with the boy and his parents.
Update: Later, police reported the detention of the 13-year-old founder of another Telegram channel dedicated to the Redan movement in the city of Cherkasy. As the boy himself states, he created the channel to "become popular" and used the name of the new youth movement.
His channel was blocked. The police are in contact with his parents.
Background:
- On 27 February, teenagers who claimed to belong to the Russian subculture Redan PMC gathered for mass fights in the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, and Ivano-Frankivsk.
- On 28 February, police reported that they had blocked 18 channels and groups on social media that had been created to "promote" the Redan PMC youth movement in Ukraine.
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