Ukrainian intelligence services attempted to steal personal data of Moscow and Moscow region students by sending emails, according to a press release from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) on March 6.
The FSB claims to have thwarted an operation by the Ukrainian Military Intelligence (GUR) that aimed to intercept and store personal data of students at educational institutions in Moscow and the Moscow region, with the intention of recruiting them for future sabotage and terrorist acts.
The FSB states that the GUR gained access to email inboxes of two Russian patriotic youth organizations, using the electronic correspondence of these organizations to discuss the organization of the third all-Russia “Military-Patriotic Dictation”. The FSB concludes that the GUR modified the files and sent them to 42 educational institutions in Moscow and the Moscow region, collecting personal information of the students.
The fake emails contained additional questions to obtain the phone numbers and addresses of the students and a link to a registration form for the dictation was added.
The FSB believes that the data was intended to be collected to recruit students for sabotage and terrorist acts on the territory of the Russian Federation. The FSB press release announces that investigative measures are being taken and educational institutions in Moscow and the Moscow region have been informed about potential provocations planned by Ukrainian intelligence services.