Ukrainians should be vigilant-Russian special services create fake sites and telegram channels to lure money and personal data from relatives of the missing. The scheme works through trust manipulations, promises of help and psychological pressure, and in return - uses pain for propaganda and blackmail. This is told by journalists of " Ukrainians who are looking for missing relatives, military or civilian, often find themselves in a situation of complete unknown. In desperation, people turn to any resources to get at least a grain of information.

Under the guise of help, Russia creates channels disguised as volunteer or human rights organizations. The names sound plausible: " They allegedly offer to help in search of prisoners or missing. A person is offered to fill out a questionnaire or write in a chat. First - free, without obligations, supposedly only to "

But further the scheme is gaining momentum. Psychological pressure begins, promises of communication with the prisoner, the opportunity to talk on the phone, see the video. And necessarily-the condition to transfer a certain amount of funds, sometimes not money requires, but a scan-copy of documents, military extracts, photos. All this is a collection of reconnaissance information that Russians use to factory accusations or blackmail.

Another part of the scheme is substitution. For example, a telegram channel with the Ukrainian name is created, where photos of military documents, burned things, bodies, or just names lists are posted. People see in the comments familiar surnames or references to their native brigades and begin to contact the administrators. They answer, support the conversation, and then either require data or means. If a relative does not fulfill the conditions, a person is blocked or threatened that he will " Especially cynical is the use of the image of " They become the " Some of them are fake accounts created specifically to lure emotions and details. In these chats and channels, they often broadcast a video with " The goal is to promote Russian narratives, to give the impression that Ukraine is not looking for its own, and only an appeal to “right people” can “save” - that is, fake organizations. After that, relatives begin to doubt official sources, despair, become even more vulnerable to manipulations. In some cases, after communicating with pseudo -help, relatives learn that the personal data of their loved ones or even themselves subsequently appear on other Russian resources.

That is, these structures are interconnected into a single network that collects information, conducts blackmail, distributes fakes and serves propaganda.

Real international organizations, such as the International Red Cross, today do not have access to Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia. The official search mechanisms work slowly, but transparently: the coordination headquarters on the treatment of prisoners of war, the search service at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Commissioner for Human Rights.