Russian special services involve teenagers in pseudo-mining in Ukraine

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has documented numerous cases of Russian special services attempting to destabilise the internal situation in Ukraine through fake reports about the "mining" of infrastructure, in which the Russian Federation involved Ukrainian children.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine

Details: More than 2,000 anonymous threats against state institutions, schools, hospitals and other places of mass gathering have been received since the beginning of 2023.

The SSU stated that most of the information about pseudo-mining came as Internet messages from the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as from Ukrainians.

Quote: "It has been established that the Russian special services involve minors more and more to send terrorist messages.

The occupiers use the banned [in Ukraine] Vkontakte social network, [Russian-]controlled Telegram channels and online gaming platforms to recruit Ukrainian teenagers. On these resources, representatives of the special services of the Russian Federation ‘get to know’ young users and offer them to cooperate.

Very often, the enemy uses methods of blackmail and psychological manipulation, as well as offers of easy money, to incline children to subversive activities.

Before sending messages about fake mines, ‘anonymous terrorists’ receive lists of priority targets in Ukraine from their Russian handlers."

Details: For the anonymity of "letters", their authors send them using specialised software. However, the SSU still establishes their identities, documents their criminal activities and prosecutes them.

In Cherkasy, two local high school students were exposed after reporting about "mining" of a regional military administration and the city's shopping centre in July of this year.

According to the investigation, the young men acted on the instructions of representatives of the Russian FSB, who recruited both teenagers through Telegram channels controlled by the Russian Federation.

On this and other facts, investigations under Art. 259 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (knowingly false notification of a threat to the safety of citizens, destruction or property damage) are underway.

The sanction of the article provides for a punishment of up to 8 years of imprisonment. If the offender is under 16, then their parents or care-takers will be held responsible for the crime.

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