Russian agents resort to torture in recruiting Ukrainians.
What is known about Russia's attempts to recruit Ukrainians for cooperation
One Ukrainian soldier was fighting Russian soldiers on the battlefield when the Russians came for his parents. According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), they were taken from their home and subjected to torture. Then a Russian agent contacted the serviceman and issued an ultimatum — to switch sides and spy for Russia, otherwise his family would suffer even more.
The SSU reports that the soldier agreed to help Russia. Acting on the instructions of a Russian agent, he planned to add a poisonous substance to the water of a laundry complex used by senior officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, The Washington Post notes.
The agency announced that they foiled a plot to poison the Ukrainian military command in the Zaporizhzhia region. The serviceman was charged with treason and faces life imprisonment. This incident sheds light on the tactics used by Russian special services to recruit Ukrainians.
Moscow's original plan was for agents to infiltrate the upper echelons of Ukrainian society before full-scale war broke out and then seize power from within. But in the first months after February 2022, most of these people were either rounded up by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies or fled on their own. Now, after more than two years, there are fewer and fewer Ukrainians with pro-Russian sympathies, especially those who hold influential positions and want to help Moscow.
What methods do the Russians use?
In many cases, the Russians used blackmail to force Ukrainians to work for them — threatening family members still living in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or captured. Russian agents demanded that Ukrainian spies provide information about the movement of military equipment or confirmation that a missile had hit a target.
Blackmail is not a new method used by Russian intelligence services, but it has become more common. SSU counterintelligence officer who investigated such cases said he felt sorry for people whose relatives were threatened but believed they should contact the authorities "to prevent or minimize harm from hostile actions." In this case, they will be treated as victims, not traitors.
If a person does not do this, he should understand that his actions are subject to criminal liability, said an employee of the Security Service of Ukraine.
