The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said that "Kiev has launched a campaign to buy up Russian military and patriotic Telegram channels", with the aim of destabilizing Russian society, writes the BBC.
According to the agency, "offers to acquire this type of resource are being distributed by specially created fake accounts and are being carried out on behalf of public figures who are leaders of public opinion". The SVR claims that through these actions, which it describes as "essentially deceptive", Ukraine aims to spread disinformation, as well as discredit the Russian leadership and military structures.
The SVR does not provide specific examples to support its claims.
The announcement sparked reactions in Russian patriotic Telegram channels, where comments ranged from ironic to critical of the authorities and the information environment.
"They will finally ban patriots. Liberals were banned earlier. This means that only communists will remain!", commented RT columnist Yegor Kholmogorov.
The Telegram channel "Under the Ice", run by Svyatoslav Pavlov, co-founder of "Ordinary Tsarism" and former editor of RIA Novosti, reacted: "Well, it's time to ban patriotic content. And any content, really. Anyone who creates content is an agent of the SBU!
The "Troika" channel stated: "Exactly. And they are doing this on platforms that the Russian authorities voluntarily abandoned, literally handed them over to the enemy without a fight".
"Military correspondent" Alexey Larkin commented: "Only migrant workers (usually those under the auspices of the Supreme Court) can sell channels; for them, all this is a purely business venture. They have gained subscribers on an important topic, collected donations for an emergency fundraising campaign, and when revenues fall, they can sell the channel".
For its part, the "Game of Civilization" channel noted: "Both stupidity and betrayal. Coordination between local prohibitionists and Ukrainians should not surprise anyone. It was expected".
The SVR did not comment on the reactions on the Telegram channels.