Russia Using Pseudo-Mining Of Social Facilities And Critical Infrastructure As Hybrid War Element - SSU

Russia uses pseudo-mining of social facilities and critical infrastructure as one of the elements of a hybrid war to increase pressure on Ukraine.

The press service of the SSU has said this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

“Russian special services are actively using pseudo-mining of social facilities and critical infrastructure as one of the elements of a hybrid war to increase pressure on Ukraine. If during the whole of 2021 the SSU recorded more than 1,100 deliberately false anonymous messages, then since the beginning of 2022, more than 300 of them have been received. Now none of them, after careful checks, has been confirmed," it was said.

Since the beginning of 2021, a total of 313 people have been identified who have carried out pseudo-mining.

It is noted that the goal of the special services of the aggressor country is to create conditions for additional pressure on Ukraine, to sow alarm and panic in society.

According to preliminary information, citizens of Ukraine are involved in the spread of a wave of pseudo-mining, who act for hooligan motives or for entertainment, not fully realizing all the possible consequences.

Attackers try to send messages using software that they think will keep them anonymous.

At that, it was found that most of the messages were sent by Internet users located in the territory of neighboring post-Soviet countries or in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Meanwhile, operational tracking of the channels for receiving false information takes place within the framework of international assistance projects together with foreign partners.

The SSU notes that "anonymous terrorists" will be identified and prosecuted under the articles of the Criminal Code: Part 1 of Article 259 (knowingly false report about a threat to the safety of citizens, destruction or damage to property), which is punishable by imprisonment from two to six years, and for such a repeated call, a citizen can be sentenced to a term from four to eight years; Part 1 Article 258 (terrorist act) in the event of a threat of explosions and other actions that will endanger the life and health of people or other grave consequences, which entails a penalty of imprisonment for a period from five to 10 years with confiscation of property, for repeated such manifestation – from seven to 12 years with confiscation of property.

As Ukrainian News Agency reported, on January 20, an unknown person reported that the Office of the President in Kyiv had been mined, the police checked the building, but did not find any explosive objects.

On Friday, the police checked information about the mining of schools in Kyiv.

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