Putin ‘blackmailing’ Ukrainian civilians into committing vile atrocities by using his spies to exploit darkest secrets

RUSSIAN spies are blackmailing Ukrainian civilians into carrying out vile attacks for Vladimir Putin, intelligence sources have claimed.

Using online forums and datasets, Vlad's agents are manipulating vulnerable civilians into planting bombs with a cocktail of threats and bribery.

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A string of sabotage attacks across Europe have been attributed to Russian puppet masters.

And, at the start of this year, military sites inside Ukraine were hit by a spate of bombings - with officials publicly blaming Russia.

Yurii Gaidai, a senior economist at the Kyiv think tank Centre for Economic Strategy, said it was “very likely” that Russia paid online gambling sites in Ukraine for their data to identify "weak spots" - meaning desperate people.

The dark arts strategy emerged after top figures from Ukraine's gambling industry were arrested over links with Russia.

After selecting targets inside Ukraine, Russian agents make contact and wave the promise of cash to convince addicts to do their bidding, sources said.

Ukrainian investigators have arrested owners of online casinos on suspicion of colluding with Russia after have uncovered evidence of data being collected and shared.

Gaidai linked the sick strategy with "bombings of recruitment centres" at the beginning of the year.

The attackers "were not people who ideologically support Russia", Gaidai said, suggesting they had been coerced into the plots.

He told The Sun: “These are just people who are very much in need of money, so they can be leveraged.

"If you have the data of people you can contact and offer them money - and they are more likely to accept it than turn you to Ukrainian intelligence services - this is a very valuable set of information."

The bombings generally involved somebody picking up an explosive device from a hidden location and transporting it to the target site.

Gaidai said commands "definitely" come from "those who are working in Russian intelligence services".

A spokesperson for Security Service of Ukraine, Artem Dekhtyarenko, confirmed Russian spies exploit people with gambling addictions.

He said: "Russians recruit for their tasks mainly minors, the unemployed, and people with various types of addictions. For example, drug, alcohol, or gambling addictions."

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A source close to the Ukrainian Secret Service revealed that Russians are trying to "groom" anyone they can - particularly addicts, gamblers and teenagers.

They told The Sun: "There are different tactics the Russians use, but two are the most popular.

"In the first, they offer work as an ‘odd courier job', and afterwards blackmail the targets into collaborating with sheer terrorism.

"In the second approach, Russians browse through internet communities and channels dedicated to pro-Russian support.

"Russians are the enemy; they are not friends to anyone."

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When it comes to blackmail, the Russians' weapon of choice can be "death threats, fake nude pictures, and all the shades of fear", the source said.

Another source, involved with Ukrainian cyber security, explained that, initially, the recruits might not realise what they are doing.

They told The Sun: "After handing out a few errands, the Russian operatives can reveal themselves and resort to blackmailing.

"They threaten to send all the information they have to the Ukrainian police or security services - if they are not caught or blown up first."

After a bomb attack on a draft office in February, Ukraine's national police chief Ivan Vyhivskyi said: "We [...] understand this is a deliberate attack by Russian special services that aims to create a false opinion in society."

He added they aim to "destabilise the situation and create a negative attitude towards the security and defence forces".

In that incident, on February 5, a man approached a checkpoint at a recruitment office clutching a bag and asked to hand over a package.

An explosion followed - killing the bag bearer and wounding four.

Following the attack, Vyhivskyi said there had already been nine such plots carried out this year.

In a similar case, a young man was blown up by an explosive device he carried into a draft office in the northwestern city of Rivne on February 1.

The bomber was killed and eight service members wounded.

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Ukraine's SBU domestic security agency took the rare step of saying he had been recruited by the Russians, who remotely detonated the device, removing him as an "unnecessary witness".

According to the investigation, the bomb-carrier was a 21-year-old unemployed man from the Zhytomyr region looking for quick money.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said: “The explosions inside and near the premises of the Ukrainian army recruitment centres, and police departments, and the arson of military vehicles are a targeted campaign by the Russian special services against Ukraine.

"Unfortunately, some of our citizens are becoming an instrument of the enemy in search of quick money.

“The main thing is age. As a rule, these are young people. Teenagers and very young people under the age of 22-23.

"Russian special services attract them with ads for easy part-time work."

Various figures within Ukraine’s gambling industry, only legalised in 2020, have been arrested and face investigations over links with Russia.

That includes the head of the industry’s regulator as well as the director of one of the largest online casinos.

Ivan Rudyi was the head of KRAIL - Ukraine's gambling regulator - until his arrest in December, and his detention has been extended until May 26.

The official is accused of wilfully allowing Russian gambling sites to operate in Ukraine - including one of the largest, Pin-Up.

Rudyi is a celebrated military figure in Ukraine, and even served as his country's team captain in the 2023 Invictus Games.

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Igor Zotko, the director of Pin-Up, one of the most popular casino sites in Ukraine, was arrested in January on suspicion of laundering Russian money.

An ongoing investigation has found that the true owners were Russian citizens.

They allegedly collected personal data and information about the locations of users - including Ukrainian military personnel.

Gambling in Ukraine was only legalised in 2020 after 11 years of prohibition.

As of 2024, around 8,000 people had referred themselves to a list for addicts, so their ability to gamble would be limited.

But that number is nowhere near the true figure.

A Ukrainian cyber police source told The Sun: "In reality hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians in one way or another have a gambling addiction.

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"That makes them a possible target for Russian special services.

"Some of these people lost tons of money to the online and offline casinos and would look for any possibility to lay their hands on any amount of money.

"Russians do not have to do anything special to find them.

"They monitor the Internet, various Telegram channels, forums, and Discord channels dedicated to the casinos and online betting to find people who seem desperate.

"They contact them under the disguise of help-bots or just random people who offer to do small tasks."

But the source in Ukraine's security service warned that Russia's reach is not limited to Ukraine.

They said: "Europe and the UK should be wary as well.

"There is nothing that limits Russians from using the same tactics abroad as well to destabilize the situation."

Vlad has peppered the continent with arson, bombs plots, "air terror", cyber attacks and assassination plans.

A Ukrainian-owned warehouse in east London was set alight in March 2024, and Brit Dylan Earl has admitted arranging it.

The court heard he paid a gang to spark the blaze under instruction from the fearsome Russian Wagner mercenary group.

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Then, in July, a letter bomb was planted on a plane to Britain - setting fire to a DHL warehouse in Birmingham when it detonated.

Leipzig in Germany was also hit with a series of booby-trapped parcels, with Russia the prime suspect.

A flammable substance was reportedly hidden in electric massage devices.

Poland arrested four people in relation to the devious scheme, which is thought to have been a trial run for more postal bombs destined for the US.

Elsewhere, a DHL jet plummeted from Lithuania's skies and erupted into a fireball in November 2024.

Lithuania's president Gitanas Nausėda said that almost every plane crash should be checked for Russian interference going forwards.