Russian special services recruited minor Ukrainians for anti-Semitic provocations, the Security Service of Ukraine reported. This is how the occupiers tried to discredit Ukraine on the international stage. The Russians attempted to incite feelings of national intolerance towards Jews in Zhytomyr Oblast, as well as in Dnipro, Lviv, and Vinnytsia.
The Security Service of Ukraine revealed the network of provocateurs used by the Russians. The group included 13-17-year-old students from local schools. The Russian special services created a youth radical right-wing Telegram channel for the remote recruitment of Ukrainians.
“On this Internet resource, its Russian administrators, using psychological manipulation, called on Ukrainian teenagers to commit acts of anti-Semitism in their localities,” the SSU said.
The Russians planned that the provocations should be in the form of painting offensive inscriptions on memorials and carrying out detonations there using improvised explosive devices.
“At the same time, representatives of the aggressor country offered community members to publish photo and “video reports” of provocations. The media files obtained in this way were “dispersed” by the Russian special services in foreign media as fake publications to discredit Ukraine,” the SSU explained.
In particular, representatives of the Russian special services called on Ukrainian teenagers to commit acts of vandalism at memorials to the victims of the Holocaust. Computers and mobile phones with photographs and reports of provocations in favor of Russia, as well as components for homemade explosives, were found during searches of the addresses of the teenagers.
The investigation is ongoing. “The SSU appeals to Ukrainians to be vigilant and keep their children’s interests under control to prevent them from being influenced by enemy special services,” the SSU concluded.
Photo: SSU
