Russia Cracks Down on Dating Chatbot ‘Exploited’ by Ukrainian Intelligence
The FSB and Internal Affairs Ministry say there has been an increase in the use by Ukrainian intelligence agencies of the “Davyinchik” chatbot on Telegram to recruit Russian youths to commit sabotage. It claims to have arrested almost 60 such individuals since July last year.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported on Thursday about the widespread use of a popular dating chatbot, “Dayvinchik/Leo – Dating, Chat, and New Friends,” by Ukrainian intelligence agencies to recruit young people for sabotage activities. The FSB stated that 56 individuals, aged between 12 and 24, had been arrested since July 2025 for planning or committing sabotage and terrorist activities under the influence of Ukrainian spies.
The majority of arrests occurred in August and September 2025, with minors aged 14 to 17 and two adult Russians aged 19 and 24 detained in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other regions. According to the FSB, Ukrainian intelligence officers posed as young men seeking romantic relationships, gathering personal information such as geolocation, persuading victims to transfer money for restaurant reservations, and clicking on phishing links.
In the subsequent phase, a second operator posing as an FSB or Rosfinmonitoring official threatened the recruited youth with criminal prosecution, intimidation, and psychological pressure, coercing them to commit arson or other attacks. The FSB provided examples of arrests, including a teenager in St. Petersburg who set fire to gas stations and a pair of underage girls who set police vehicles on fire in St. Petersburg.
The Moscow Times reported that Telegram founder Pavel Durov was charged with "assisting terrorist activity" by failing to remove the "Dayvinchik" bot from the platform. The FSB warned Russians not to disclose personal information, pay for services, follow links, provide geolocation data, or share images or videos with people met on dating sites, including the chatbot.
They also cautioned against any actions requested by individuals from the FSB, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Investigative Committee, Rosfinmonitoring, Central Bank, or Gosuslugi over messaging apps like Telegram, WhatsApp, or Max.
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