Putin targets 'unfriendly' countries with call-blocking order
Vladimir Putin has ordered the development of a system to block phone calls from "unfriendly countries," including Ukraine. The President of Russia does not want calls from people he considers his enemies. Poland has been on the Kremlin's blacklist since 2022.
Vladimir Putin issued a directive instructing the Ministry of Internal Affairs and security services to develop mechanisms for blocking phone calls from the territory of "Ukraine and other unfriendly countries." The goal is to combat phone scams.
Poland was recognized as an "unfriendly country" in 2022.
The Russian portal RBK reported that Russian residents are increasingly being targeted by phone scammers. One example is the recent swindling of over 9 million rubles (about $96,000) from a well-known ballerina and choreographer. The scammer, posing as an officer of the Federal Security Service, convinced her to transfer the money to an unknown account.
Another case involves an eighth-grade student who threw a Molotov cocktail into the administrative building of a Moscow housing estate at the end of January. According to the RK portal, scammers calling from Ukraine coerced him and instructed him to take several hundred thousand rubles (about $5,300) and a large amount of foreign currency from the family safe.
List of "unfriendly countries" for Russia
On the list of countries recognized by Russia as hostile, in addition to Poland, are: Australia, Albania, Andorra, the United Kingdom, European Union member states, Iceland, Canada, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, San Marino, North Macedonia, Singapore, the United States, Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, and Japan.
The Lenta portal reports that phone scammers often use phrases such as "provide SMS code," "safe account," "central bank," "ministry of internal affairs," and "FSB." Vladimir Putin's directive is to be implemented by July this year.
