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Russia Uses Fake ATESH Accounts and Messaging Bots to Expose Resistance Helpers
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Russian special services are impersonating members of the ATESH movement to track down individuals attempting to assist resistance efforts during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Accounts posing as ATESH have recently appeared in chat groups belonging to other movements, including Freedom of Russia, urging users to contact a specific automated messaging bot.
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Representatives of ATESH clarified that these messages are deceptive traps set up by Russian security forces to expose potential helpers.
The partisans noted that the group does not use automated bots. One fake account discovered in chat rooms was @Svysnoy_Ateshhbot, which closely mimics their actual contact handle but includes a slight spelling error.
ATESH stated that their only official contact account is @Svyaznoy_Atesh.
On October 21, 2026, agents of the ATESH partisan movement sabotaged Russian military communications around IXcellerate, one of Moscow’s largest commercial data centers, in an effort to disrupt air-defense coordination and help Ukrainian drones reach their targets.
The group stated that they were disabling enemy channels, disrupting command and control, and assisting UAVs in reaching their targets.
ATESH claimed that Russia’s Defense Ministry used infrastructure connected to the facility for military communications and air-defense command systems, effectively embedding military traffic within civilian server networks.
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