A pro-Ukrainian Russian group teamed with Kyiv's military intelligence to trick Moscow authorities into paying their enemies a $500,000 bounty.
Ukraine's Defense Intelligence said it executed a "complex, multi-stage" special operation to save the life of Denis Kapustin, commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, while also exposing what it described as an enemy intelligence network tasked with eliminating him.
The stunt used staged drone footage to convince Russian operatives they had successfully killed one of Moscow's most wanted anti-Putin fighters, and then to collect the reward meant for his assassination.
According to the DIU release, Ukrainian intelligence officers simulated Kapustin's "elimination" to mislead Russian handlers and protect the target.
Two strike drones were used in the deception. One appeared to hit a vehicle carrying Kapustin, while a second drone filmed the aftermath, capturing a burning car that served as "proof" of the supposed strike.
Ukraine's Defense Intelligence said the fabricated evidence was convincing enough that Russian intelligence subsequently paid out a $500,000 reward for what it believed was a completed assassination.
The money, Ukraine said, was transferred to Ukrainian operatives and is now being used to strengthen its special forces.
The Telegraph reported Kapustin was falsely declared dead on Dec. 27, with Russia's volunteer force itself initially confirming the claim in a Telegram message pledging revenge and saying, "Your legacy lives on."
The report said Moscow had been hunting Kapustin for years and was willing to pay handsomely for his elimination — a sign of how humiliating his group’s operations have been for the Kremlin.
But on New Year’s Day, Kapustin reappeared alive in a video released by Ukraine’s military intelligence, standing alongside Gen. Kyrylo Budanov.
Budanov offered a pointed congratulations and openly mocked Russia’s security apparatus for financing Ukraine’s war effort.
He said he was glad the funds intended for Kapustin’s "liquidation" were instead redirected to support Ukraine’s fight.
The Guardian reported that Ukrainian intelligence framed the operation as both a defensive measure and a counterintelligence strike — preserving Kapustin’s life while identifying the individuals behind the plot, including the alleged masterminds inside Russia’s special services and those recruited to carry out the attack.
The "Timur Special Unit," linked to Kapustin, said it also received the funds allocated for the assassination.
The episode is another example of Ukraine’s intelligence services running circles around Moscow's once-feared Federal Security Service and the GRU (the military intelligence agency), and doing it with minimal resources compared with Russia’s massive security state.
It also underscores the growing use of deception, drone warfare, and covert operations in a conflict that increasingly resembles a high-tech shadow war.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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