FSB says Ukrainian intelligence is recruiting Russians for sabotage via popular Telegram dating bot

Russia's FSB says Ukrainian intelligence has been using a popular Telegram dating bot called "Daivinchik" to recruit young Russians, some as young as twelve, into sabotage and arson attacks. Meduza reports that since July of last year, authorities have detained forty-six users across sixteen Russian regions, with operatives allegedly posing as young women before pressuring teens by impersonating law enforcement. The FSB also accused Telegram founder Pavel Durov of failing to remove the channels and bots involved. Russian authorities have opened criminal cases, and the bot itself was banned by the media regulator Roskomnadzor last December.

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