The Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU or SSU) has uncovered a novel espionage marketing campaign suspected to be orchestrated by Russia’s Federal Safety Service (FSB) that includes recruiting Ukrainian minors for legal actions below the guise of “quest games.”
Regulation enforcement officers mentioned that it detained two FSB agent teams following a particular operation in Kharkiv. These teams, per the company, consisted solely of youngsters aged 15 and 16.
“The minors carried out hostile tasks of conducting reconnaissance, correcting strikes, and arson,” the SSU mentioned in a press release launched Friday. “To mask subversive activities, both enemy cells operated separately from each other.”
As per the hunt sport guidelines set by the FSB, the kids got geographic coordinates, after which they have been instructed to get to the placement, take pictures and movies of targets, and supply a normal description of the encompassing space.
The outcomes of those reconnaissance missions have been subsequently shared to the Russian intelligence company by way of nameless chats. The SSU mentioned the data gathered from these actions was used to hold out airstrikes in Kharkiv.
Ukraine’s principal safety arm additionally revealed that it has detained “all members of the enemy groups” who have been discovered taking pictures of air protection services within the nation. One of many organizers has been taken into custody and faces life imprisonment.
Additionally charged in reference to the efforts is a “liaison” of the FSB agent teams, a police officer from the Krasnodar area of Russia. He has been charged in absentia below Half 2 of Article 113 of the Legal Code of Ukraine, which pertains to acts of sabotage dedicated below martial regulation.
The event comes because the Pc Emergency Response Staff of Ukraine (CERT-UA) warned of a brand new set of cyber assaults that it mentioned have been aimed toward protection firms within the nation in addition to its safety and protection forces. The intrusions have been attributed to a Russia-linked actor tracked as UAC-0185.
