Ukrainian volunteer flies to Russia to save his 18-year-old son after being blackmailed by FSB

Ukrainian volunteer Mykhailo Puryshev has said that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) used his 18-year-old son to blackmail him, prompting Puryshev to travel to Russia in an attempt to save him.

Source: a statement by Puryshev on Instagram and a comment from his team

Quote from Puryshev: "They [the FSB] suggested that we 'make friends'. There were two options: either I cooperate with them and they help my son and leave him alone, but I would betray my country and my children here; or I refuse to cooperate and they kill my son. I decided I had a third option – to go there, and once I'm with them, they can do whatever they want, but my son will stay alive, and I hope they will leave him alone."

Details: Puryshev has two children from his first marriage who live in Russia with his ex-wife.

He said he received the first call from his son's phone number on 16 July 2026. The caller introduced himself as "the equivalent of your security service".

There were four more calls, this time from a different number, during which the caller asked Puryshev to disclose the positions of Ukrainian units and provide information to Russia. Puryshev recorded all the conversations.

An excerpt from the recording of the first call:

The caller began the first conversation: "I've come to visit your son."

Puryshev: "If I don't cooperate with you, you're going to send my son to the trenches?"

Caller: "You understand correctly… If you attempt to tell anyone about us, the consequences will be the same."

During the conversations, Puryshev was offered help with resolving all of his son's problems and financial assistance for him. The caller also repeatedly promised to let him speak to his son, but none of these promises were kept.

During the five calls, Puryshev did not provide any information and refused the offers of money.

He then decided to travel to Russia in an attempt to save his son.

In a statement, the volunteer's friends said: "The FSB set one condition – silence. So publicity is the only defence for Mykhailo and his son."

Background:

• Mykhailo Puryshev is a businessman from Mariupol. In March 2022, as a volunteer, he made six trips to besieged Mariupol to evacuate people to Zaporizhzhia. He and his team subsequently helped evacuate over 1,000 people. He was detained by Russian occupying forces but later released.
• After Mariupol, Puryshev and his team built invincibility centres along the entire line of contact, from Kupiansk to Kherson Oblast, including in Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Kurakhove. [Invincibility centres are heated premises stocked with food and power banks to assist residents facing hardships due to power cuts – ed.]
• A year ago, Puryshev and some of his fellow volunteers voluntarily joined the Ukrainian defence forces. He served as a UAV crew commander and is now being discharged from service on health grounds after suffering two heart attacks.

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