"By then, Anna was feeling increasingly uneasy about what she'd got herself into. Warrior's profile on Telegram included images of a pistol and ammo cartridges, something that looked like a missile, and a Russian flag. Anna worried that, by helping him, she was somehow aiding the Russian war effort. She contacted her sister, who had a friend who worked in law enforcement back in Ukraine."
"Three days later, Warrior2Alpha sent her a voice message with a new request. He wanted photographs of the bag's contents. Anna opened the bag and pulled out a remote-controlled car still in its box. A bubble-wrap bag containing a bundle of wires was taped to one side of it. She also found several cellphones, charging cables, and a pair of black vibrators."
A Ukrainian woman who had fled Kharkiv to Vilnius was contacted in April 2024 by an acquaintance who asked her to pick up a package. A Telegram user instructed her to retrieve a luggage locker item and then photograph its contents. The package contained a remote-controlled car, a taped bundle of wires, multiple cellphones and charging cables, and sex toys. The recruiter used a profile displaying weapons imagery and a Russian flag, prompting the woman to fear she was assisting Russia's war effort. She sought advice from family and a Ukrainian law-enforcement contact and was told to delete the photo.
Read at The New Yorker
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