They call you — and suddenly, you’re an “agent,” without even realizing it. Ukrainian law enforcement is reporting a surge in cases where the Russians target pensioners by phone, impersonating officers from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) or the National Police. Victims are then blackmailed into carrying out sabotage missions for Russia, according to the National Police.
Similar tactics are being used across Europe. In the Baltic states, Russian operatives often recruit locals through Telegram, luring them with money or kompromat. These individuals are seen as expendable. Moscow discards them as soon as they’re no longer useful, a European intelligence official told The Guardian.
Russia’s strategy is clear: recruit people who are unaware they have become pawns in a campaign of international sabotage.
In Ukraine, elderly people are typically contacted via Viber. The goal: coerce them into following “orders” based on fake draft notices, fabricated criminal cases, or alleged links to Russia through purchases of medicines or dietary supplements.
One common scheme involves telling a pensioner that a drug they bought is banned because it was “produced in Russia.” That, the scammers claim, amounts to “collaboration with the enemy.” What follows is extortion — and a so-called “way out”: either wire money or complete a “small task.”
Pensioners in Kyiv have already contacted police after being defrauded or drawn into dangerous schemes. Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasizes that legitimate security agencies never issue illegal or covert orders to citizens.
According to the SBU, Russian operatives are also attempting to recruit minors. These efforts often begin with photographing sensitive sites or tagging graffiti, and escalate to acts of sabotage against railway and energy infrastructure.
Moreover, in Europe, the Russians recruit Ukrainian agents to cause a double wave: shock in the West and propaganda within Russia.