The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) declared that it had exposed the group of "a known provocateur and his accomplices" who called for armed resistance mobilization. The special service declared that after a series of searches in the Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Transcarpathian regions, it had neutralized a group that was working to disrupt mobilization and "spill" data of the Ukrainian military.
Zhan Novoseltsev, a so-called "journalist" and an opponent of mobilization, is among those detained. He is an associate of Lviv anti-vaccinator Ostap Stakhiv, who created a whole network of supporters of opposition to mobilization. Babel indirectly confirmed the detention of Novoseltsev. Stakhiv also announced the arrest of an accomplice and published a video with him. Novoseltsev says that he was detained because he is "fighting corruption."
In total, eight people appear in the group — Novoseltsev and seven of his accomplices. Among them are pseudo-experts, administrators of Internet communities and experts in video editing.
According to the investigation, they called for armed resistance to the employees of the territorial recruit center (TRC), and also spread fakes about the Ukrainian military through a network of Telegram channels, Facebook pages and YouTube channels. They also created a site where they "merged" personal data of Ukrainian military and law enforcement officers. All the participants pretended to be journalists.
Currently, Novoseltsev and his accomplice, a pseudo-expert, have been detained. They were informed of the suspicion of obstructing the legal activities of the Armed Forces (Part 1 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code), which is punishable by up to 8 years of imprisonment.
Other members of the group are being sought. Suspicions are being prepared for them.
- Zhan Novoseltsev calls himself a journalist and human rights defender. He is a member of the Stakhiva network, which is trying to counter mobilization in Ukraine. Novoseltsev released dozens of videos with Stakhiv, and also runs a Telegram channel where he discredits the work of the TRC and talks about "their arbitrariness." Novoseltsevʼs channel spreads conspiracy theories about war, mobilization and problems with electricity to almost 31 000 subscribers.