A decorated Russian military officer fighting in Ukraine has appealed to President Vladimir Putin over claims that his teenage son was coerced by Ukrainian phone scammers into actions that got him arrested on fraud charges.
Yekaterina Mizulina, head of the Kremlin-aligned Safe Internet League, who shared the officer’s video appeal, claimed his son’s case was part of a wider trend targeting the families of soldiers taking part in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“In my view, all of this is being done by the Kyiv regime as revenge for participation in the special military operation, as well as to demoralize these families,” Mizulina wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.
Lieutenant Colonel Kirill Suvorov, a four-time state award recipient with more than 25 years of military service, said his 18-year-old son Yegor was arrested in August for allegedly transporting bags of money and valuables across Moscow under the belief that he was part of a covert FSB security service operation after his state services account was hacked.
Suvorov said the scammers allegedly threatened Yegor with life in prison for treason and his father with either a military tribunal or a targeted assassination if he did not follow their instructions.
Mizulina published a letter from the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office confirming that Yegor Suvorov and unidentified “other accomplices” face up to 10 years in prison on charges of fraud, and that procedural violations have been identified and addressed during criminal proceedings.
Suvorov claimed that more than 1,000 teenagers and students across Russia have been drawn into similar cases, warning that their criminal prosecution risks fueling public discontent.
Mizulina said Suvorov’s is not the first appeal received by her office.
“Ukrainian scammers are purposefully attacking the families of participants in the special military operation and defense industry employees,” she said.
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