The security service neutralized an organized group that created a powerful bot farm to discredit the leadership of our country and destabilize the socio-political situation.
The perpetrators massively spread disinformation via the Internet, including about the country's top military and political leadership activities.
The propaganda "powers" of this bot farm were also used by representatives of the Russian special services. In particular, bots spread fake news about the situation on the fronts and carried out other information diversions.
Among the latest "operations" of criminals: the distribution of content about the alleged conflict between the leadership of the OP and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, as well as conducting a campaign to discredit the first lady.
To "disperse" destructive content, the sites administered more than 1 million of their own bots and numerous groups in social networks with an audience of almost 400,000 users.
In the course of a multi-stage special operation, the leader of the criminal group was exposed. He turned out to be a citizen of the Russian Federation who lived in Kyiv and positioned himself as a "political expert".
According to the investigation, he organized information-subversive activities on the order of one of the domestic police forces. To coordinate criminal actions, he was in "contact" with the current People's Deputy, who is part of the close circle of the former leader of our state.
It was established that the Russian "political technologist" created special software. With its help, group members automatically managed an unlimited number of anonymous accounts in the most popular social networks.
In order to mask illegal activities, the perpetrators set up appropriate equipment in different cities - Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Vinnytsia.
In addition, the "politexpert" has repeatedly published destructive propaganda on his behalf, personally speaking on media resources controlled by his "curators".
During searches of the locations of crime organizers, law enforcement officers seized:
- the hardware and software complex that ensured the operation of the bot farm;
- 5,000 SIM cards, which the attackers used to create and further maintain technical accounts;
- 200 "Proxy" servers for changing IP addresses and avoiding blocking of relevant Internet resources.
"Today, the information front is no less important than military operations. And the Russian Federation understands this very well - that is why it throws its powerful forces into the division of Ukrainian society. Botfarms, pseudo-experts, information and psychological operations, imposing pro-Russian messages - all this is in the enemy's arsenal. He tries to use any excuse to fuel internal strife or manipulate public opinion. Unfortunately, some Ukrainian political forces consciously or unconsciously play along with the enemy and put their own ambitions above state interests. But we oppose any destructive actions! And the exposure of such a powerful bot farm is another proof of this," said the acting director. Head of the Security Service, Vasyl Malyuk.
He added that the Ukrainian people should demonstrate unity and not be influenced by pro-Russian manipulators. This is vital to victory.
Within the framework of criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Art. 361 (unauthorized interference in the work of information (automated), electronic communication, information and communication systems, electronic communication networks) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, investigative and operational actions are ongoing to bring to justice all organizers of the bot farm.
Measures to detect and block offenses were carried out by employees of the Cyber ​​Department of the Security Service of Ukraine together with the Main Investigative Department of the National Police and under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General's Office.
We will remind that since the beginning of the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion, the Security Service's cyber specialists have neutralized more than 1.2 thousand hostile cyber incidents and cyber attacks on state authorities and strategically important critical infrastructure facilities.
At the same time, almost 500 pro-Russian YouTube channels with an audience of more than 15 million subscribers were blocked at the request of the SBU. More than 1,500 Telegram channels and bots, and more than 1,500 Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok accounts have been blocked.
