The Ukrainian security service (SBU) has found and dismantled two more Russian bot farms it said were being used to spread disinformation in the war-torn country.
Based in Kyiv and Odessa, the facilities comprised around 7000 fake accounts. They were being used to spread fake content designed to discredit Ukraine’s army and leadership, justify Russian aggression and destabilize the social and political fabric of the country, the SBU claimed.
The Kyiv bot farm was being run by a 24-year-old man from Zaporizhzhia, who registered fake accounts using Russian e-mail services and the virtual mobile numbers of Russian and Belarusian operators, sometimes using forged documents linked to Ukrainian citizens for verification.
He is said to have rented out these accounts to interested parties including the PR departments of political parties and Russian citizens, the SBU noted.
In Odessa, the bot farm dismantled by the authorities was run by four local men, the SBU said.
They focused on creating fake accounts on social networks and messaging apps, with the end goal of spreading panic in the region, which has long been a strategic target for the Russian invaders.
Once again, the group’s clients were from Russia, the SBU assessed.
Officers seized computer equipment, four servers, more than 250 USB modems, mobile phones, bank cards, and more than 400 SIM cards.
The raids were coordinated between the SBU and the Ukrainian National Police (NPU) under the supervision of the Odesa and Kyiv Prosecutor’s Offices.
The Putin regime sees disinformation as a key strategic tool to help it win the war against its near neighbor. However, its efforts have been halted by strong Ukrainian resistance, timely sharing of US-led intelligence and local law enforcement efforts like this.
Last month, the SBU dismantled infrastructure based in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Vinnytsia used to beam destabilizing content to over 400,000 Ukrainians.