Russia claims Ukraine hacked state youth organizations to recruit minors

A Russian security agency has accused Ukraine of hacking two Kremlin-backed youth military-patriotic organizations to gather student data for potential recruitment in espionage or terrorist activities.

In a statement on Thursday, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had thwarted a cyber operation targeting Avangard and Yunarmiya, pro-government youth organizations established to promote patriotism, military values and national pride among young people in Russia.

Russia alleged that Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR), with the support of NATO, hacked into the organizations’ email accounts, altered some files, and then mass-distributed them to schools in Moscow and nearby areas. The final goal of this operation, according to the FSB, was to collect personal data on teenagers for recruitment into intelligence and sabotage activities against Russia.

The investigation into the case is ongoing, Russian security officials said, adding that they had warned schools in the Moscow area about “the alleged Ukrainian provocation.” Ukrainian military intelligence services have not publicly responded to the accusations.

In separate statements on Thursday, Avangard director Darya Borisova said that its servers and data were not compromised during the attack. This contradicts the FSB’s claims about the allegedly obtained illegal access by hackers into the organizations’ email accounts.

Borisova said that the attempted attack on Avangard and Yunarmiya demonstrated the "lack of principles" of the Kyiv regime and urged people to remain vigilant when communicating online, as the enemy hackers “will try again.”

During a previous incident in early November, Viktor Kaurov, the first deputy chief of the organization’s main headquarters, told local media that this was not the first time the movement’s website had been hacked.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine — or what he referred to as “a military operation” — the organization’s website has been subjected to “regular hacking and DDoS attacks from unfriendly countries.” 

"These attacks pose no threat to Yunarmiya," Kaurov added.

Many pro-Ukraine hacker groups — including IT Army, DC8044, KibOrg, and the Ukraine Cyber Alliance — have claimed responsibility for attacks on Yunarmiya over the past few years.

In November, hackers defaced the website with a message insulting Russian President Vladimir Putin and the organization itself. Last year, the Ukrainian threat actor RUH8 published a data dump that reportedly contained information on 5,000 children linked to Yunarmiya.