‘We need eyes and ears’ How the Russian military uses pro-war Telegram channels to recruit people in Europe to spy on NATO and Ukraine — Meduza
meduza.io
For the past six months, several pro-war Telegram channels have been calling on Russian-speaking residents of Europe to spy on NATO military sites and report their findings through a special bot. Recruits are instructed to photograph military bases and purchase local maps, guidebooks, and SIM cards to send to Russia. To uncover who’s behind the operation and how it works, a Novaya Gazeta Europe journalist posed as a potential recruit. Here’s what they discovered.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/18095419

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For the past six months, several pro-war Telegram channels have been calling on Russian-speaking residents of Europe to spy on NATO military sites and report their findings through a special bot. Recruits are instructed to photograph military bases and purchase local maps, guidebooks, and SIM cards to send to Russia.

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Over the past year, authorities in several European Union countries have accused Russian intelligence of orchestrating sabotage on their soil. In Estonia, more than a dozen individuals were arrested and charged with carrying out orders from Russian operatives. The allegations included desecrating national monuments and targeting the property of public officials and journalists.

In Latvia, individuals were reportedly recruited to spy on a NATO airbase and commit acts of vandalism in military barracks. According to journalists from Re:Baltica, the recruitment was conducted via Telegram. Two men in Latvia are also currently on trial for attempting to set fire to the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia.

In April 2024, German prosecutors announced the arrest of two individuals with dual Russian and German citizenship on suspicion of planning arson attacks and bombings at industrial and military sites. And back in 2023, the Polish authorities arrested a group accused of planning to sabotage trains carrying weapons and supplies to Ukraine, allegedly acting on Russian orders.

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