Russia has allegedly used online “tasks” and financial incentives compared to online games to encourage Ukrainian teenagers to perform acts of terrorism in Europe.
The “gamification” of these attacks occurs when Russian agents, often under code names referencing pop culture, hand out tasks on apps like TikTok or Telegram, according to France 24. Lithuanian prosecutors said one agent used the code name “Q,” the same used for the fictional spy James Bond’s gadget master, The New York Times reported. (RELATED: Ukraine’s Holy War Comes To America)
Multiple cases have been reported throughout Europe. Vlad, 17, said he was paid $30 for trying to collect a hidden grenade and offered $1,500 to set fire to a Ukrainian conscription center’s van, according to the BBC. He claimed he received approximately $100 in cryptocurrency for the second task.
Daniil Bardadim, 18, pleaded guilty to planting an explosive in an IKEA in Vilnius, Lithuania, and was sentenced to more than three years behind bars, Euronews reported. He was found guilty of terrorist acts.
Prosecutors said the act served “the interests of the military structures and security services of the Russian Federation.” IKEA is believed to have been struck for pulling out of Russia as well as for Sweden, where the firm is based, backing Ukraine
A 19-year-old Ukrainian woman, after allegedly building and planting an explosive device inside an e-scooter provided to the Ukrainian armed forces, was apprehended in April. A 16-year-old from Kharkiv, Ukraine, was arrested in October by Polish police on allegations of working with Russia in the recruitment process of these attacks, TVN24 reported, citing authorities.
“Some of it is staged like a game, where you’re supposed to collect certain information in certain places or deliver stuff,” Elena Grossfield, a King’s College London expert on Russian intelligence, told France 24. “So it’s almost like the Pokémon Go game.”
Approximately 800 Ukrainians have been recruited by the Russians, including roughly 240 minors, the BBC reported, citing the Ukrainian security service.
Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security (SPRAVDI) has also made a video warning Ukrainian youths against working on behalf of the Russians.
Grossfield said that this method functions as a “quantity over quality” alternative to the Soviet-era espionage approach of recruiting sleeper agents abroad.
“On a day-to-day level, Russia is using it on a massive scale,” Huseyn Aliyev, a University of Glasgow specialist on the war in Ukraine, told France 24. He added that tasks for Ukrainian citizens can include sharing sensitive information such as “[t]he movement of troops, the location of weapon production factories, potential military bases and so on.”
The trend has now started to die down due to arrests, but Aliyev said “the scheme is evolving,” growing from making Molotov cocktails to planting explosive devices.
Erik Stijnman, a Netherlands Institute of International Relations specialist in military security issues connected to the Russia-Ukraine war, told France 24 that “young connected people are more susceptible to be involved in this. They see it as exciting and probably not able to see the entire picture and the extent of the damage they do to themselves and their nation.”
Russians have reached out to children as young as 10 years of age, according to Ukrainian officials.
Stijnman suggested that the optics of seeing Ukrainians behind the attacks increases the damage, as Western countries view headlines of Ukrainian youths collaborating with Russians. (RELATED: Trump Vows To End Third World Migration After Deadly National Guard Shooting)
“That’s probably the point of these operations — that it sends a strong signal that Ukrainians are turning against Europe — so why would we support them?” Stijnman said.
Grossfield said the operations put targets on the backs of Ukrainian refugees by fostering suspicion toward them. Such a shift in public opinion may alienate them, “which, in turn, makes them easier to recruit,” she added.
