They let you talk to a prisoner and then blackmail you into committing sabotage

The relatives of prisoners began to contact the lawyers of the KHPG reception centers, telling a similar story: a person from whom there was no news for a long time finally called from captivity. He is given only a few seconds to talk — just enough for those at home to hear “I am alive” and recognize his familiar voice.

After a while, completely different people started calling the Ukrainian family. Threatening to torture or even kill the prisoner, the person on the other end offers them to perform a task. For example, to set fire to a relay cabinet or a military vehicle.

— I have encountered such a situation at least four times, — says Tamila Bespala, the head of the KHPG Kharkiv reception office. — Our clients told me that the Russians wrote to them and tried to blackmail them into blowing up a military vehicle, planting a mine, or killing someone specific. It is worth noting that these messages disappear almost immediately. Often, calls also happen from hidden numbers that are difficult to establish. The four cases are just those we were told about. Can you imagine how many there really are? How many people do not report anywhere because they fear for the lives of their relatives?

Considering that we are talking about people still in the hands of Russians, we cannot reveal the details of such blackmail so as not to cause harm.

Impact on the vulnerable

“Arson of Ukrainian military vehicles and sabotage on the railways have intensified since approximately May 2024. Since the beginning of 2025, the Russian special services have once again shown that they have no red lines and have switched to terrorist attacks using explosives. And they even recruit teenagers for such crimes. The youngest executors of Russian orders, whom the SBU exposed in the arson of Ukrzaliznytsia relay cabinets, were 13-year-old teenage agents. The oldest is a 52-year-old man who tried to plant an explosive in the Dnipro,” said Artem Dekhtyarenko, spokesman for the Security Service of Ukraine, on Radio Liberty.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners also warned last year that the Russians may blackmail families of prisoners into terrorist activities. “The enemy has intensified its attempts to influence the relatives of prisoners of war and, during personal communication, provokes them to destructive actions and crimes,” — the message said. “Unknown individuals are calling family representatives and trying to force them to cooperate, in particular, to transfer intelligence information, disable civilian infrastructure, or commit terrorist activities. In return, they offer various concessions to the prisoners in custody; otherwise, they act with threats.”

The Coordination Headquarters warned the families of prisoners against any cooperation with enemy special services. Instead, they recommended reporting such contacts to the Coordination Headquarters or law enforcement officers.

“Failure to inform about such facts or activities in favor of the enemy can have serious and irreparable consequences,” — the institution stated. — “Unfortunately, the Russians are taking advantage of the vulnerable position of the families. Our task is to prevent this and not worsen the situation of our citizens deprived of their liberty.”

“We will send your wife to the front to join the boys”

The Russians began blackmailing the families of prisoners of war from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion. Already in the first weeks of the great war, the families of many military personnel found themselves under occupation. At that time, the Russians took the wives or fathers of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers hostage — many of them ended up behind bars. Later, the military personnel were called from a relative’s number and tried to force them to commit sabotage or reveal information about the unit — otherwise, torture or murder of a family member.

In the fall of 2022, the media outlet “Mediazona” published the story of Anastasia Bortnyk. Her mother-in-law ended up under occupation in Strilecha, Kharkiv Region. The girl went after her through Russia, but she was detained. Anastasia’s husband was fighting at the time. At the end of August, he received a video call from his wife’s number. On the screen were Nastya and two men in masks. “Your girl won’t leave here; it’s the end,” — he announces. — “But if you cooperate with us, everything will be fine. You’ll have money, and your women and everything else. And if you don’t cooperate with us, consider that you’ve decided her future. We’ll send her to the front to help our guys. She’ll clean, tidy up, and help the guys who have been sitting without women for several months,” — the Russians declared. The woman was beaten and humiliated in front of her husband. Fortunately, Anastasia was later released.

Last year, the Washington Post published an investigation into blackmail as a method of operation by Russian special services. The journalists told the story of Yana, whose mother was a border guard and was captured in the very first days of the occupation of the Kharkiv region. After several months of silence, Yana began to receive strange messages from her mother’s phone. “At first, the person on the other end was polite, Yana said, promising that her mother would not be harmed. But in exchange they wanted information, and asked if Yana saw any military equipment in her Kharkiv neighborhood,” the investigation says. The Russians began to hint that her mother might suffer because of Yana’s behavior: “There is one woman, many men.” Later, Yana’s mother was exchanged.

The hero of another story is still in captivity. His son was sent photos of his father via telegram. “He looked so thin, like he’d been in a concentration camp,” the man recalls. Then a message came: “If you want your father to live, you will work for us.” The son did not have time to do anything, although he admitted he was close to the crime. The SBU learned about the situation and contacted the man. “Now, the SBU monitors the son’s communications with the Russians and directs his replies so it seems like he is cooperating,” the journalists say.

The carrot-and-stick method

In an interview with “Noviny Pryazov’ya,” the former Ukrainian political prisoner defender Mykola Polozov told how Russian security forces are trying to recruit relatives of prisoners. On the one hand, prisoners’ conditions in a Russian prison may be improved— given the opportunity to call home via video, for example. The general conditions of detention of prisoners in Russia are so bad that anything can ease the situation of a prisoner of war — a day without beatings or the opportunity to go out into the fresh air. “This kind of carrot, the opportunity to at least talk to a loved one, is sometimes very effective,” — Polozov says.

But Russian special services use “ carrots “ and “sticks”. “They can torture and show it. To stop this, relatives are ready to do anything, including possible crimes against Ukraine. Unfortunately, there are such cases,” — the lawyer continues. — Of course, first of all, they are interested in the relatives of the servicemen, those who have access to some documents, or military leaders who can obtain this information and pass it on to Russian special services. Sometimes, these are completely desperate mothers who are told: “Go and see if there is some base or some missiles there, and after that, Russian missiles arrive there”.

What to do?

“If someone from “the other side” contacts the prisoners’ family and forces them to commit a crime, it is necessary to record this as much as possible, take screenshots of the messages, save the voice messages,” — emphasizes Tamila Bespala. “And immediately contact the law enforcement agencies. They will tell you what to do. And “the other side” will not know about your contact. Our law enforcement officers can then conduct these dialogues in disguise to find out who they are communicating with — with the Russian special services or the Wagner group, for example. They can carefully find out the fate of the prisoner. It is worth remembering: if a person, even under duress and blackmail, commits some serious crime, they will end up behind bars. It is clear to everyone that a person is capable of anything as long as their husband, son, or brother is no longer tortured. But the law is the law.