Ukraine detains a programmer who created a bot farm to spread Russian propaganda

The Security Service of Ukraine detained a programmer in the Poltava region who created a bot farm to spread Russian propaganda and two other people who, on the instructions of Russian special services, conducted information sabotage against Ukraine. The SBU has made this statement, according to Detector Media.

Law enforcement officers exposed an IT specialist in Horishni Plavni who organized a bot farm to spread Kremlin propaganda on the Internet. According to the report, the Russian agent registered en masse mobile numbers of Ukrainian operators, using which he created fake accounts on social networks.

Later, the Russians used these social accounts to spread Russian propaganda content and disinformation, allegedly on behalf of Ukrainian citizens.

Law enforcement claims that he systematically registered mobile numbers and created fictitious accounts to distribute pro-Russian narratives. Law enforcement eliminated over 10,000 such accounts in total.

The detained man was notified of being suspected of treason, unauthorized interference with information systems, and justification of Russian aggression. They could face imprisonment ranging from 8 years to a life sentence, along with the confiscation of his property.

All three detained propagandists are currently in custody. Another detainee in the Poltava region justified Russia’s armed aggression and discredited the Ukrainian Defense Forces in his publications. The suspect used anonymous messenger chats to communicate with Russian special services.

A third detained local resident, previously convicted for spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda, once again committed the same crime during his probation. According to the investigation, this time the suspect posted provocative posts on his Facebook page denying Russian war crimes and calling for a coup d’état in Ukraine.

The SSU also noted that another suspect is a former functionary of the banned Party of Regions (of fugitive president Yanukovych). According to the special service, the offender wrote paid-for articles for the Kremlin’s international mouthpieces, including the Russian online publication “Foundation for Strategic Culture.”

According to the investigation, the man prepared dozens of publications in which he justified Russia’s armed aggression and discredited the Ukrainian Defense Forces. “To avoid detection, the suspect created hostile content under a pseudonym. And for contacts with representatives of Russian special services, he used anonymous chats in messengers,” the statement said.

The detainees received a notice of suspicion for crimes under several articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code. The criminals are in custody. They face from 8 years in prison to life imprisonment with confiscation of property, the security service said.