Residents of Russia's Kemerovo Oblast were "made" by "cyber swindlers" to send millions of rubles to accounts connected to Ukraine's Armed Forces, the regional governor, Sergey Tsivilyov, claimed on April 24.
In an address shared on an official Telegram channel, the governor of the southeastern region warned against alleged attacks by Ukrainian intelligence services.
Tsivilyov alleged that since the beginning of the year, residents of his region inadvertently "transferred millions of rubles to accounts used to pay for drones and weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine."
"They deceive everyone. The most defenseless are under the spotlight: our parents, our loved ones. We must stop it," he said.
Ukraine's military intelligence reported back in March that Russian citizens "were most active" in a fundraiser to purchase Sych reconnaissance drones of the agency's units.
"The peak of donations for Ukrainian drones by Russian citizens coincident with the so-called elections of (Vladimir) Putin," the agency said in its statement.
Elsa Court
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