St. Petersburg Man Arrested for Cyberattacks via Fake Terror Alerts
Moscow, August 12. Police officers, with the assistance of the FSB, have eliminated a technical communication node that enabled making thousands of calls daily and transmitting false messages about terrorist acts.
Consensus
- A technical hub using GSM gateways was operated in a communal apartment in Saint Petersburg's Petrogradsky District.
- The hub was used to send false messages about terrorist attacks to schools, hospitals, and transport infrastructure.
- The suspect was arrested by police with support from the FSB.
- The equipment enabled thousands of remote calls and message broadcasts daily.
- The suspect received approximately 8,000 rubles per day in cryptocurrency for his work.
- The operation was conducted under the direction of anonymous foreign coordinators.
- Two GSM gateways, a computer, and phones with communications to coordinators were seized during a search.
- An investigation is ongoing, and the equipment has been linked to false terror reports in Mordovia and Magadan Oblast.
- A criminal case was opened under the charge of illegal use of subscriber terminals for traffic routing.
- The suspect is in custody, and follow-up investigations are underway.
Points of divergence
- The suspect acted since summer 2025. — gazeta_spb
- The technical hub allowed thousands of calls per day, but did not specify the exact number as over 2,000. — vesti
Coverage (2 sources)
- Police of St. Petersburg detained organizer of technical hub for cyberattacks - SPB Newspaper - St. Petersburg news — Gazeta.SPb
- In St. Petersburg, a communication node used by terrorists has been neutralized — Вести