Russian military forces are using phishing-like methods such as text messages and chat bots to target their artillery and airstrikes, particularly in unfamiliar areas, Ukrainian government officials say.
The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security of Ukraine, a government agency under the National Defense Council, reported Monday that average citizens have been receiving solicitation messages for repair services related to war damage.
''Kharkiv!!!! I fix blow out windows with special foam (for free),'' reads one message signed by ''Ihor'' with a phone number. It then asks to ''Please spread to appropriate group messages.''
The center said the message contains red flags, including that the message, phone number and name were identical no matter where ''Ihor'' was offering his services. Other suspicious signs were reported by people that asked for the help.
''Ihor plays dumb, asks your address, the time of the attack, extent of the damage, whether there are any Ukrainian armed forces personnel in the area, and if the area is drivable or not,'' the warning from the center reads.
No one comes to fix the windows, but in several instances, those that reported about army personnel were later hit with an airstrike or artillery barrage. The center said that the messages and the follow-up interview is used to improve bombing precision and destruction of Ukraine's armed forces from a safe distance.
Another strategy involved creating artificial ''chat bots'' that pose as people on Telegram, a social media platform that is used by both Russians and Ukrainians for messaging and news.
''The bots send messages to big community group chats or channels to ask you about the extent of destruction following an enemy bombardment and the exact location to hone the precision of future strikes,'' reads a warning from the Center for Countering Disinformation, another agency that reports to the Defense Council.
''They write in group messages of cities that have just been bombarded. You can tell by the absolutely identical messages.''
The center advises citizens not to communicate with anyone they don't know, about damage to their buildings or the exact locations of Ukraine's military forces, warning that it could cost someone their life.
Another method that Ukraine's Security Services has issued a warning about is the video-sharing platform TikTok. The SSU arrested a man and was questioning him about a series of videos posted to TikTok of Ukrainian military equipment. The area, the Podilsky neighborhood in Kyiv, posted in the video was bombed a couple of hours later. The airstrike killed eight people.
''Consciously or not, this man helped the enemy tighten its air strikes, the investigation found. We address every citizen – do not post information on the movement of Ukraine's troops and the results of enemy strikes. That's what the occupier uses to plan next strikes. That's what they use to make them more precise,'' said a post from the Security Services.
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