In Telegram, they found a bot, which recruits for sabotage residents of Europe with pro -Russian views

The bot is advertised in the public PMC Wagner, and Russian special services may be involved in its creation, OCCRP writes

Residents of European countries with pro-Russian views are recruited for espionage, arson, sabotage and even murders in their countries through the Privet Bot telegram account, the OCCRP journalists and European publications Delfi, Paper Trail Media, ZDF, and Der Standard said . Representatives of European Security Services believe that Russian special services can be engaged in such a recruitment.

Journalists drew attention to Privet Bot when, in July 2024, he, among other things, distributed a message about sabotage in Romania. A video of fires in industrial buildings was attached to the post, which, approved, arranged pro -Russian saboteurs. However, as it turned out , long -standing and not interconnected incidents are captured on all records.

Over the past year, the Privet Bot account at least eight times advertised in the Grey Zone telegram channel, associated with Wagner PMC and having more than half a million subscribers. Also, Privet Bot advertising appeared in other, not so large telegram channels, Facebook, VKontakte and on the Steam game platform. In all messages of the inhabitants of Europe, they called for joining the fight against the Western allies of Ukraine.

In an attempt to find out more about how Europeans are recruited in social networks for pro-Russian sabotage, the authors of the investigation responded to one of the Privet Bot ads under the guise of a 26-year-old Estonian, Valery Ivanov, who was looking for a part-time job. Journalists came up with a biography - with details about the family, work and hobbies - created a page on VKontakte and a fake scan of personality certificates.

During a short dialogue, the interlocutor Ivanov asked him to confirm the identity, asked questions about military experience and the criminal past, and also about whether he could use weapons. Privet Bot asked Ivanov to confirm that he was aware of the “seriousness of the affairs” and was ready for “dangerous topics”, and also promised him ten thousand dollars “per mission” - for espionage at military bases, arson of NATO equipment or civil oil equipment, and even for murders. He promised to transfer the reward to be transferred with cryptocurrency "on the fact of the fulfillment of the missions."

Received with the participation of DELFI, OCCRP, Paper Trail Media, ZDF, Der Standard Chat with Privet Bot in Telegram

“Look, if there is some kind of radar [radar station], then it’s also good. It is best [destroy] NATO. In general, any. The issue of price. In Estonia and the Baltic states there are many fagots that desecrate the graves of Russian soldiers. 10k behind the head. Look for hot warehouses. Civil large oil depot. Khokhls can refuel them. Bolshigruz with tanks, ”the administrator of Privet Bot listed ( copyright spelling saved - approx.“ Medusa ” ).

At the same time, the interlocutor of Ivanov demanded that he find the “goals” on his own, and first ask him to practice Molotov cocktail. Soon, the journalists stopped the conversation.

The authors of the investigation note that they failed to find the connection of the Privet Bot account with specific sabotage in Europe. But when they showed Ivanov’s correspondence to representatives of the security services of Germany, Estonia, Austria and Latvia, some of them confirmed that the dialogue of journalists with Privet Bot resembles the cases of Russian recruitment of saboteurs they faced. The state security service of Latvia did not comment on the correspondence with Privet Bot, but stated that Telegram was used by the Russian special services in some cases that it is investigating.

“The so -called lower -level agents are available, fast and safe,” said a source of journalists in one of the German security agencies. - Often they do not even know who they work for, whether it is an organized criminal structure or secret service. Due to the long chains of intermediaries, it is difficult to say who is engaged in recruitment. All three Russian special services can do this. ”

Sean Gallup / Getty images workers at the building of the Diehl metallurgical company in Berlin, which was destroyed as a result of a fire in May 2024. The picture was taken a month later. The British Financial Times reported that the fire at the factory could occur as a result of a sabotage. Diehl, among other things, is engaged in the production of weapons, including those supplied to Ukraine. The company claimed that the Berlin factory produces products only for the automotive industry.

The representative of the Estonian security police of Kapo Marta Tuul believes that the purpose of such attacks is to “cause fear, discontent and confusion in society”. “The success of the attack is not measured by the number of burned or looted property. It is enough for society to panic and doubt the work of the state, ”she explained.

The Director of the Estonian International Defense and Security Center Cannik, in a conversation with reporters, said that over the past two years in Europe the number of sabotage and sabotage attempts has sharply increased. He believes that the success indicators of saboteurs recruited in social networks are extremely low, "but the costs of resources are minimal."

The authors of the investigation, in turn, note that Russia nevertheless achieved certain results - in recent years several citizens of Estonia, Germany, Poland and other countries have been arrested, and in some cases were convicted of espionage or sabotage in favor of the Russian Federation. Some of them, including a group of people from Estonia, were recruited through telegrams and other social networks.

Privet Bot administrators did not answer the requests of journalists to comment on the investigation. Telegram during the preparation of the material updated the moderation policy and blocked for users in several countries of the European Union Grey Zone and smaller channels that advertised Privet Bot. Journalists note that the channels are still available through the browser version of Telegram, but do not open in the mobile and destopic applications of the messenger for users with EU phone numbers.

“The content aimed at inciting others to the commission of crimes violates the conditions of Telegram and therefore deleted when detecting,” the representative of the messenger of Remusu told reporters. - Unfortunately, not a single EU body notified Telegram about these channels through official contacts prescribed by DSA . Content, which is reported properly, is usually removed within an hour. ”

Photo on the cover: AFP / Scanpix / Leta