7 ms·

Ukraine fakes commander's death to trick Russia into paying $500k bounty

78 points by cwwc 10mo ago

vga42 10mo ago
Some scams are pretty great.
- kotaKat 10mo ago
  The footage is also a great scam they sent Russia. https://t.me/DIUkraine/7648 https://t.me/DIUkraine/7648 (https://old.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1q1xgxf/the_defence_intelligence_of_ukraine_carried_out_a/ https://old.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1q1x...) They give clip 1 of Kapustin running into a van in a (slightly) open environment, into the sliding doors, the drone crashing in... then cut to a second clip in a fenced environment with what appears to be an SUV with outward opening doors on fire.
elephantum 10mo ago
Making this case public should drop a shadow of doubt onto other Ukraine statements Probably it would be wiser not to brag about this one
- stavros 10mo ago
  Can you elaborate on this?
  - jhjkjikh 10mo ago
    [flagged]
- peterpost2 10mo ago
  All is fair in love and war. Seems good to have the russia rethink their system of paying for assasinations.
  - Lapsa 10mo ago
    no, all is not fair
    - andrewinardeer 10mo ago
      In love and war it is, though.
      - kelipso 10mo ago
        No, war crime laws and the Geneva Conventions have existed for decades.
- phoe-krk 10mo ago
  "If you offer to pay people to kill our people, we will do our best to make you lose this money" is IMO a pretty fair statement when published. Not only it calls the bluff of depending on mercenaries performing the Russian war machine duties, it might discourage them from doing that in the future, since the Ukrainian side is now going to use that money in defense while paying only the costs of their own covert operation.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 10mo ago
    Knowing how the Russians operate, they might decide to take the money back in skin. They do tend to be pretty vindictive. But it is kind of a funny concept, which is sort of an anodyne for an otherwise, really horrible situation. The Ukraine war is experiencing WWI-level casualties.
    - phoe-krk 10mo ago
      > Knowing how the Russians operate, they might decide to take the money back in skin. >They do tend to be pretty vindictive. I don't think it's any more risky for the Ukrainian military. They've already collectively been on Russia's wanted list for years and it's not like the country might get invaded by the Russian army any harder since it would have already happened long ago.
      - ChrisMarshallNY 10mo ago
        Good point. I was thinking of the individuals, as opposed to the institutions. The big guys will be protected, but the delivery people and analysts won’t be, on the Russian side, and the lower-level folks on the Ukrainian side could be selected for extra attention.
    - duxup 10mo ago
      > take the money back in skin Haven't we already reached that point? They were trying to kill a guy ... There's a war going on you know right?
bgbntty2 10mo ago
https://archive.ph/b9Aft https://archive.ph/b9Aft https://web.archive.org/web/20260102081357/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/01/ukrainian-spies-fake-commander-death-trick-russia/ https://web.archive.org/web/20260102081357/https://www.teleg...
euroderf 10mo ago
I hope there's gonna be an intel history of this war published. SIGINT, HUMINT, it's gonna all be fascinating.
- tim333 10mo ago
  I'm sure there are some good stories to come and some coming out slowly already. I was listening yesterday to an explanation of how the Moskva was sunk. The rumour was western air forces could see it going in circles on their radar and suggested to the Ukrainians to send R-360 missiles to the appropriate location with their radars turned off so a not to be detectable and then turn them on for the last few seconds not giving the Russians time to react. (https://youtu.be/6gUkBMzIjoQ?t=1241 https://youtu.be/6gUkBMzIjoQ?t=1241)
  - euroderf 9mo ago
    Interesting clip! Russian SOP, from the sounds of it.
netsharc 10mo ago
While writing the question "So, how did the money exchange hands?" I came up with a hypothesis: I guess the Russian regime have offshore accounts and would've transferred the amount to another foreign account they assume to belong to the killer, but actually is ultimately controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. If the money stayed in the Russian banking system, I can imagine they could've seized the recipient account, and transferring such a large amount out of the country would be difficult (although it's peanuts in the world of dark finances)
- solumunus 10mo ago
  Bitcoin seems likely.
Argonaut998 10mo ago
[flagged]
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
- fractallyte 10mo ago
  Nonsense. They're making russians look stupid – and by extension, Putin too. russians only respect a strong, domineering leader. Putin looking weak will only hasten his downfall. And that $500k payout is the icing on the cake.
- solumunus 10mo ago
  Elaborate?
  - Argonaut998 10mo ago
    It is deceptive and doesn’t help Zelenskyy’s image in the eyes of Trump and Putin.
- duxup 10mo ago
  As opposed to what action would do themselves a favor?
- Sabinus 10mo ago
  I wish I could swap Ireland and Estonia's location in the world. Let the great lovers of peace like yourself live next to Russia.
  - Argonaut998 10mo ago
    Imagine coping so much that you go through my history to find out where I’m from. Anyway, it seems like people like myself and the US are the ones who want peace. Regardless, I support Ukraine’s whole right to their territories and what it takes to defend them. Deceptive tactics just do not help Zelenskyy’s image. That is all.
drysine 10mo ago
Why not say Russia paid $5000k? It's not like they offered any proof. Meanwhile, I find it is quite telling that the Telegraph paints him as "one of the most prominent anti-Putin Russians fighting on behalf of Ukraine" and quotes him saying “We fight to change something in Russia. When the war ends, I will continue fighting until Putin falls,” while completely failing to mention what he is fighting for. His nickname "White Rex" might give a clue, though. Here is how a Reuters article describes him: "The RVC was founded by Moscow-born Denis Kapustin, also known as Denis Nikitin or by the nom de guerre White Rex. The Antifascist Europe monitoring project says he is a neo-Nazi and white supremacist. Nikitin, who declined to be interviewed for this article, has frequently described himself as a nationalist fighting for a Russia that belongs to ethnic Russians" [0] He used to live in Europe and before the war Germans had something to say about him too: "The interior ministry of Herbert Reul (CDU) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, called him "one of the most influential neo-Nazi activists" in Germany, and noted that he professionalized the fighting subculture in the country."[1] That's the kind of Russians that chooses to fight along with current Ukrainian regime and gets glorified by Western media. It fills me with disgust how Western propaganda works. [0] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/how-russians-end-up-far-right-militia-fighting-ukraine-2023-05-11/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/how-russians-end-up-far... [1] https://www.bfmtv.com/international/asie/russie/guerre-en-ukraine-qui-sont-la-legion-liberte-et-le-rdk-ces-unites-russes-anti-poutine_AN-202305240866.html https://www.bfmtv.com/international/asie/russie/guerre-en-uk...
- computerfriend 10mo ago
  > completely failing to mention what he is fighting for. Not so. > Denis Kapustin, a far-Right extremist and former football hooligan, ... > Since 2019, he has been banned from entering the Schengen Area for promoting neo-Nazi ideology. from the article.
  - drysine 10mo ago
    Oops, not completely then. I scrolled through the irrelevant section "Outsmarting Russians" devoted to the events that has been reported on many times before, but they buried two paragraphs about this "commander" being a Nazi there. I don't think many people would read through this haystack of already known events in search of the needle they don't even know is there. "The drones had been smuggled into Russia and assembled, and launched from trucks deep within Russian territory, in another huge victory for Ukraine’s spies. Ukraine’s latest intelligence success means Denis Kapustin, a far-Right extremist and former football hooligan, is inside Ukrainian territory and “preparing to continue carrying out assigned tasks”, said a Ukrainian commander. The commander’s family moved from Moscow to Germany when Mr Kapustin was 17 and he relocated to Ukraine in 2017. Since 2019, he has been banned from entering the Schengen Area for promoting neo-Nazi ideology." Quite abrupt switch of topic, don't you think? It's like the editor cut and pasted these paragraphs from more prominent place to the place which 90% of readers won't read. It's not the first time I see this dark pattern in Western media.
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]

78 points by cwwc 10mo ago

vga42 10mo ago

Some scams are pretty great.

kotaKat 10mo ago
The footage is also a great scam they sent Russia. https://t.me/DIUkraine/7648 https://t.me/DIUkraine/7648 (https://old.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1q1xgxf/the_defence_intelligence_of_ukraine_carried_out_a/ https://old.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1q1x...) They give clip 1 of Kapustin running into a van in a (slightly) open environment, into the sliding doors, the drone crashing in... then cut to a second clip in a fenced environment with what appears to be an SUV with outward opening doors on fire.

elephantum 10mo ago

Making this case public should drop a shadow of doubt onto other Ukraine statements Probably it would be wiser not to brag about this one

stavros 10mo ago
Can you elaborate on this?
- jhjkjikh 10mo ago
  [flagged]
peterpost2 10mo ago
All is fair in love and war. Seems good to have the russia rethink their system of paying for assasinations.
- Lapsa 10mo ago
  no, all is not fair
  - andrewinardeer 10mo ago
    In love and war it is, though.
    - kelipso 10mo ago
      No, war crime laws and the Geneva Conventions have existed for decades.
phoe-krk 10mo ago
"If you offer to pay people to kill our people, we will do our best to make you lose this money" is IMO a pretty fair statement when published. Not only it calls the bluff of depending on mercenaries performing the Russian war machine duties, it might discourage them from doing that in the future, since the Ukrainian side is now going to use that money in defense while paying only the costs of their own covert operation.
- ChrisMarshallNY 10mo ago
  Knowing how the Russians operate, they might decide to take the money back in skin. They do tend to be pretty vindictive. But it is kind of a funny concept, which is sort of an anodyne for an otherwise, really horrible situation. The Ukraine war is experiencing WWI-level casualties.
  - phoe-krk 10mo ago
    > Knowing how the Russians operate, they might decide to take the money back in skin. >They do tend to be pretty vindictive. I don't think it's any more risky for the Ukrainian military. They've already collectively been on Russia's wanted list for years and it's not like the country might get invaded by the Russian army any harder since it would have already happened long ago.
    - ChrisMarshallNY 10mo ago
      Good point. I was thinking of the individuals, as opposed to the institutions. The big guys will be protected, but the delivery people and analysts won’t be, on the Russian side, and the lower-level folks on the Ukrainian side could be selected for extra attention.
  - duxup 10mo ago
    > take the money back in skin Haven't we already reached that point? They were trying to kill a guy ... There's a war going on you know right?

bgbntty2 10mo ago

https://archive.ph/b9Aft https://archive.ph/b9Aft https://web.archive.org/web/20260102081357/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/01/ukrainian-spies-fake-commander-death-trick-russia/ https://web.archive.org/web/20260102081357/https://www.teleg...

euroderf 10mo ago

I hope there's gonna be an intel history of this war published. SIGINT, HUMINT, it's gonna all be fascinating.

tim333 10mo ago
I'm sure there are some good stories to come and some coming out slowly already. I was listening yesterday to an explanation of how the Moskva was sunk. The rumour was western air forces could see it going in circles on their radar and suggested to the Ukrainians to send R-360 missiles to the appropriate location with their radars turned off so a not to be detectable and then turn them on for the last few seconds not giving the Russians time to react. (https://youtu.be/6gUkBMzIjoQ?t=1241 https://youtu.be/6gUkBMzIjoQ?t=1241)
- euroderf 9mo ago
  Interesting clip! Russian SOP, from the sounds of it.

netsharc 10mo ago

While writing the question "So, how did the money exchange hands?" I came up with a hypothesis: I guess the Russian regime have offshore accounts and would've transferred the amount to another foreign account they assume to belong to the killer, but actually is ultimately controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. If the money stayed in the Russian banking system, I can imagine they could've seized the recipient account, and transferring such a large amount out of the country would be difficult (although it's peanuts in the world of dark finances)

solumunus 10mo ago
Bitcoin seems likely.

Argonaut998 10mo ago

[flagged]

deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
fractallyte 10mo ago
Nonsense. They're making russians look stupid – and by extension, Putin too. russians only respect a strong, domineering leader. Putin looking weak will only hasten his downfall. And that $500k payout is the icing on the cake.
solumunus 10mo ago
Elaborate?
- Argonaut998 10mo ago
  It is deceptive and doesn’t help Zelenskyy’s image in the eyes of Trump and Putin.
duxup 10mo ago
As opposed to what action would do themselves a favor?
Sabinus 10mo ago
I wish I could swap Ireland and Estonia's location in the world. Let the great lovers of peace like yourself live next to Russia.
- Argonaut998 10mo ago
  Imagine coping so much that you go through my history to find out where I’m from. Anyway, it seems like people like myself and the US are the ones who want peace. Regardless, I support Ukraine’s whole right to their territories and what it takes to defend them. Deceptive tactics just do not help Zelenskyy’s image. That is all.

drysine 10mo ago

Why not say Russia paid $5000k? It's not like they offered any proof. Meanwhile, I find it is quite telling that the Telegraph paints him as "one of the most prominent anti-Putin Russians fighting on behalf of Ukraine" and quotes him saying “We fight to change something in Russia. When the war ends, I will continue fighting until Putin falls,” while completely failing to mention what he is fighting for. His nickname "White Rex" might give a clue, though. Here is how a Reuters article describes him: "The RVC was founded by Moscow-born Denis Kapustin, also known as Denis Nikitin or by the nom de guerre White Rex. The Antifascist Europe monitoring project says he is a neo-Nazi and white supremacist. Nikitin, who declined to be interviewed for this article, has frequently described himself as a nationalist fighting for a Russia that belongs to ethnic Russians" [0] He used to live in Europe and before the war Germans had something to say about him too: "The interior ministry of Herbert Reul (CDU) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, called him "one of the most influential neo-Nazi activists" in Germany, and noted that he professionalized the fighting subculture in the country."[1] That's the kind of Russians that chooses to fight along with current Ukrainian regime and gets glorified by Western media. It fills me with disgust how Western propaganda works. [0] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/how-russians-end-up-far-right-militia-fighting-ukraine-2023-05-11/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/how-russians-end-up-far... [1] https://www.bfmtv.com/international/asie/russie/guerre-en-ukraine-qui-sont-la-legion-liberte-et-le-rdk-ces-unites-russes-anti-poutine_AN-202305240866.html https://www.bfmtv.com/international/asie/russie/guerre-en-uk...

computerfriend 10mo ago
> completely failing to mention what he is fighting for. Not so. > Denis Kapustin, a far-Right extremist and former football hooligan, ... > Since 2019, he has been banned from entering the Schengen Area for promoting neo-Nazi ideology. from the article.
- drysine 10mo ago
  Oops, not completely then. I scrolled through the irrelevant section "Outsmarting Russians" devoted to the events that has been reported on many times before, but they buried two paragraphs about this "commander" being a Nazi there. I don't think many people would read through this haystack of already known events in search of the needle they don't even know is there. "The drones had been smuggled into Russia and assembled, and launched from trucks deep within Russian territory, in another huge victory for Ukraine’s spies. Ukraine’s latest intelligence success means Denis Kapustin, a far-Right extremist and former football hooligan, is inside Ukrainian territory and “preparing to continue carrying out assigned tasks”, said a Ukrainian commander. The commander’s family moved from Moscow to Germany when Mr Kapustin was 17 and he relocated to Ukraine in 2017. Since 2019, he has been banned from entering the Schengen Area for promoting neo-Nazi ideology." Quite abrupt switch of topic, don't you think? It's like the editor cut and pasted these paragraphs from more prominent place to the place which 90% of readers won't read. It's not the first time I see this dark pattern in Western media.

deleted 10mo ago

[deleted]