Russian special services recruited Ukrainian teenagers for anti-Semitic provocations

This is reported by the SBU press service. 

It is noted that the SBU neutralized a network of provocateurs who tried to incite anti-Semitic infusions in Zhytomyr, Dnipro, Lviv and Vinnytsia. Underage Ukrainian boys, students of local schools, aged 13 to 17.

"For their remote recruitment, the Russian special services created a youth right-wing radical Telegram channel. On this Internet resource, its Russian administrators, using psychological manipulations, called on Ukrainian teenagers to commit acts of anti-Semitism in their localities," the statement says.

According to the investigation, the Russians urged Ukrainian teenagers to put offensive inscriptions on memorial sites and to carry out explosions using improvised explosive devices. Afterward, the teenagers were to publish photo and video reports of the provocations.

"The media files obtained in this way were "dispersed" by Russian special services in foreign media as fake publications to discredit Ukraine," the SBU explained.

The SBU reported on the results of its work. Thus, in the city of Radomyshl in the Zhytomyr region, a 15-year-old schoolboy was exposed: the occupiers demanded that he put anti-Semitic inscriptions on one of the memorial signs in the region. Later, similar provocative images were found on the walls of several private homes.

In Dnipro, Lviv, and Vinnytsia, four students of local educational institutions who were members of a Russian-controlled Telegram channel were exposed.

"It was documented how representatives of the Russian special services called on them to commit acts of vandalism at Holocaust memorial sites. During the searches at the teenagers' residences, the SBU found computers and mobile phones with photos and reports of provocations in favor of Russia, as well as components for the artisanal manufacture of explosives," the SBU said.

Disclaimer: Pursuant to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and shall not be subjected to criminal punishment until his or her guilt is proved by law and established by a court verdict of guilty