During quarantine measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Security Service of Ukraine has identified 154 agitators spreading coronavirus fakes. The SBU has also blocked over 2,000 relevant online communities with total number of followers to 700,000.

Cyber specialists are constantly reviewing destructive content about such topics in the Internet, which is mostly made by Russian social networks. The main aim of which was to create artificial panic or appeal to quarantine violations.

In particular, among the 154 identified, SBU officers has already identified 8 agitprops who deliberately acting in Russia’s side. Such agitprops have worked in Odesa, Dnipro, Lviv, Kherson and Kyiv cities.  Investigation is ongoing within the criminal proceedings initiated under Art.109 and Art.110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (for actions aimed at forcibly altering or overthrowing the constitutional order or takeover of government, as well as for trespass against territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine).

The National Police is submitted the information on the other 146 people. One-third of them have already been brought to administrative responsibility for spreading rumors that could cause panic or disorder in Ukraine.

Earlier, the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov together with the National Security Defense Council of Ukraine propose to continue the sanctions against Russian social networks Odnoklassniki and VKontakte for another 3 years. 

“Fakes in democratic countries are equated with the weapons of mass destruction. A hybrid war is ongoing against Ukraine, and we continue to counter Russian cyber-attacks. Therefore, the continuation of sanctions makes sense: in doing so, we will protect our citizens from fakes and manipulations and preserve the security of the state as a whole properly”, said the Head of SBU Ivan Bakanov.