Russian spies ran a campaign against Kyiv on Anthropic’s Claude, and the AI chatbot’s maker caught them at it
The operators automated phishing, intrusion, and data theft, leaving the human to refine the workflows.
A Russian espionage group utilized the AI chatbot Claude, developed by US firm Anthropic, to target Ukraine. The group, known as GTG-20006, focused on Ukrainian government, military, and diplomatic personnel, with drone supply chain targets coming second. The hacking group also produced on-air ticker and voiceover scripts for state broadcasters, and targeted AI industry employees.
Russian-speaking operators used the handle JackPoterz and targeted military intelligence, diplomatic, defense bodies, and individuals involved in US foreign policy. Over 20 organizations, including ministries, embassies, think tanks, and defense companies, were part of the group's planning and operations. Ukrainian government, military, and diplomatic staff were the most frequent targets, with cyber attacks on email and remote-access systems across more than 24 state organizations.
The group stole proprietary software, harvested credentials, and redirected hotel guests to its own servers to infect them with malware. Russian state media used Claude to generate fabricated claims, including statements about Moldovan President Maia Sandu.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
Also reported by 2 other outlets
- Anthropic analyzed 400,000 Claude Code sessions, and it turns out there's a right way to use it xda-developers.com
- Anthropic says Claude AI used to build missiles, hunt Uyghurs and spy on phones timesofindia.indiatimes.com
