Russian Bot Farm: Ukraine dismantles bot farm pushing Russian propaganda, 150,000 SIM cards seized – Times of India

Russian hackers have reportedly been a part of multiple misinformation campaigns since the country started the war against Ukraine. For these campaigns, Russia invested in Ukraine-based bot farms to target the country. Now, Ukraine has reportedly taken down a huge bot farm which was linked to more than 100 individuals. According to a report by Bleeping Computer, the Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukrainehas successfully dismantled the bot farm after raiding almost two dozen locations.The country has alleged that these bots were used to justify Moscow’s propaganda justifying Russia’s war in Ukraine. As per the report, these bots were not only used to share illegal content but were also used to steal personal information as well as various other fraudulent activities.
The report adds that units of the Ukrainian National Police and the cyber police executed a joint operation in which they searched 21 locations in Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, and Lvivand. In this joint operation, Ukrainian police seized computer equipment, mobile phones, more than 250 GSM gateways and nearly 150,000 SIM cards from multiple mobile carriers.
What Ukraine police said about the operation
In a press release, Ukraine’s cyber police unit said: “The cyber police established that the attackers used special equipment and software to register thousands of bot accounts in various social networks and subsequently launch advertisements that violated the norms and legislation of Ukraine. In addition to spreading hostile propaganda, the accounts were also used for the unauthorised distribution of personal data of Ukrainian citizens on the Internet, in Internet fraud schemes, and for sending known false messages about threats to citizens’ safety, destruction or damage to property.”
Ukraine’s crackdown on Russian bots
Ukraine has taken down several Russian bot farms spreading fake news since the start of the war. These bot farms operated from different parts of Ukraine and were used to discourage Ukrainians. Moreover, these bots also intended to instil panic among Ukrainians by pushing false information about the Russian invasion.

In August 2022, Ukraine’s cyber police took down another major bot farm that involved 1,000,000 bots. These bots were also used to spread Russian disinformation and fake news on social networks.

Later on, in September 2022, the Cyber Department of the Ukrainian Security Service (SSU) took down another army of thousands of bots. These bots were also responsible for spreading Russian misinformation across multiple messaging platforms and social media networks.
Recently, the SSU also shut down five fake news networks that controlled over 100,000 fake social media accounts.