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Russia accuses Ukraine of orchestrating a phone scam scheme to trick elderly Russians into setting military recruitment offices on fire amid string of arson attacks

Aug 8, 2023 Business Insider
  • Russia accused Ukraine of inciting elderly Russians into attacks on military recruitment offices.
  • The country said Ukrainian fraudsters are scamming Russian elders by threatening their finances.
  • Russia offered no evidence of the alleged phone scam scheme and Ukraine has not yet responded to the allegations.

Russia is blaming Ukraine for a recent spate of arson attacks at military recruitment centers, accusing the country of overseeing a scheme to trick elderly Russian citizens into setting the offices on fire.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia said Tuesday that Ukrainian fraudsters are calling up Russian elders and inciting them to set fire to military recruitment centers in the country by pretending to be police officers or bank employees and gaining access to their finances. 

The country offered no evidence of the alleged phone scam scheme and Ukraine has not yet responded to the allegations. 

More than three dozen military registration and enlistment offices have been attacked since the end of July, Russian independent news outlet Meduza reported. The Institute for the Study of War also noted in a July 31 update that Russian civilians were increasingly conducting arson attacks against enlistment offices in both Russia and occupied Ukraine…