SSU detains propagandist Novoseltsev and his accomplices who called for armed resistance to mobilisation - media (updated)
The Security Service of Ukraine detained propagandist Zhan Novoseltsev and his accomplices who called for armed resistance to mobilisation.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the SSU press service.
It is noted that as a result of preventive measures in Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and Zakarpattia regions, a group that worked to disrupt mobilisation and "leaked" data of the Ukrainian military was neutralised.
One of the organisers of the criminal group was a former host of popular Ukrainian TV projects and now a well-known blogger who spreads pro-Kremlin narratives.
"He involved seven other accomplices in information and subversive activities in favour of the aggressor country. They included pseudo-experts, administrators of online communities and video editing specialists. According to the investigation, the defendants called for armed resistance to the employees of the TRC and law enforcement agencies, as well as spread fakes about Ukrainian defenders," the security service said.
To spread provocative content on a massive scale, the criminals created their own network of channels and pages on YouTube, Telegram, and Facebook with a total audience of over 600,000 users.
On these Internet resources, the defendants streamed and published posts with videos instructing on violent methods of draft evasion.
In addition, they created a website where they leaked personal data of the Ukrainian military, primarily representatives of the TRC and law enforcement officers.
To cover up their subversive activities, the group members posed as journalists, using the certificates of unregistered publications.
Law enforcement officers say that the offenders coordinated their criminal actions through a specially created anonymous chat in a messenger.
During the searches of their residences, the SSU found computer equipment and mobile phones with evidence of the crimes.
Two organisers of the group have been detained: the blogger and his accomplice, a pseudo-expert. SSU investigators served them with a notice of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces and other military formations).
In addition, the criminal actions of two more pseudo-experts of the said group of the controlled Internet network were qualified under the same article.
The issue of serving a notice of suspicion to all other defendants is being resolved.
The investigation is ongoing. The offenders face up to 8 years in prison.
Later, Lviv provocateur and anti-vaccination activist Ostap Stakhiv, who is an associate of Zhan Novoseltsev, published a video in which Novoseltsev himself said that he was "going to the SSU for three days".
Stakhiv also wrote that SSU officers came to the propagandist's house to search it on the morning of July 23
