Their weapons: a computer and an internet connection. At nightfall, in downtown Lviv, the last major Ukrainian city before Poland, the sound of sirens has become almost ordinary for Octap.
>> War in Ukraine: follow the evolution of the situation in our live
He works in a warehouse: this is where he operates with a team of five people. For the past two weeks, they have been sending massive text messages or calling Russian citizens to, he explains, inform them of the reality of the war.
“We are trying to reach the mothers and siblings of Russian soldiers directly.”
Octap, Ukrainian engineerat franceinfo
“We send messages to Russian citizens to inform them of the losses suffered by their armiesdevelops Octap. We are insulted: ‘Dirty Nazis!’ Someone on the team even received death threats.”
Yaroslav also got used to threats. This boss of a communication agency fled the capital kyiv, in the direction of Lviv, ten minutes after hearing the first bombardments of the Russian offensive. And he too, with his employees, about fifty people, they attack Russian servers to make them inaccessible. “These intrusions into the servers are illegal practices”he admits, slipping that he works in cooperation with the Ukrainian government.
“Our objective is above all to inform, not to attack.”
Yaroslav, director of a communication agency in kyivat franceinfo
attack “such as, for example, undermining the functioning of the Russian oil or gas networksays Yaroslav. It’s more about preventing the spread of propaganda and reporting on what’s really going on here.” The list of social networks banned in the territory by Moscow is, for him, proof that the dissemination of anti-Russian discourse is effective.