Russians recruit saboteurs online to burn military vehicles in Ukraine
3:02 PM EDT, July 16, 2024
In the first half of July in Ukraine, four military vehicles were burned. All belonged to soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). In each case, arson was involved. According to the portal "Important Stories" investigation, the instigators are Russians recruiting people online. The orders for arson and other acts of sabotage are not limited to Ukraine.
In Lviv, Rivne, Odessa, and Alexandria, someone set military pickups on fire. In the last instance, the arsonist turned out to be a 28-year-old unemployed Ukrainian woman. The woman is said to have acted on the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) orders.
The woman who torched the vehicle in Alexandria also had a second assignment—to set fire to a local recruitment office. For the car, she was to receive 10,000 hryvnias (approximately $250), and for the recruitment office, 50,000 hryvnias (approximately $1,250).
They recruit Ukrainians by offering monetary rewards for setting fire to cars, TCC buildings, or simply armed forces' properties. They then use and spread videos online as evidence of the fires. They claim that the aim of Ukrainians undertaking these actions is to create internal chaos in the country, leading to riots or civil war, explains Julia Tkacz, spokeswoman for the authorities of the Kryvyi Rih region to the Suspilne service.
Russians are looking for saboteurs in Ukraine and Western European countries
The Ukrainian service Strana reports that the FSB has intensified its efforts to recruit saboteurs. Russians use the darknet, online games, and social media platforms like Telegram and VKontakte. Their main targets are teenagers and unemployed individuals.
Russian services use various methods—from bribery to intimidation. To encourage participation, announcements often mention "challenges." They begin quite innocently with assignments like creating anti-Ukrainian graffiti. The difficulty level then increases—to arson and other acts of terror. The more tasks completed, the better the payout.
Journalists from the Important Stories have determined that arson of an AFU vehicle can earn up to $2,000. Similar announcements concerning arson, acts of sabotage, and other "challenges" also apply to Western European countries. Although these are substantially fewer, they can also be found in the darknet.
An example of such actions by the Russian FSB is the case of a 26-year-old Colombian man. The man was caught after setting buses on fire in Prague, Czech Republic, on June 13.
