Ukrainian Military Start Arresting Residents of Mykolaiv for Installing Telegram - UrduPoint

The Ukrainian military have started arresting residents of the city of Mykolaiv for installing Telegram on their phones, sending text messages to Russian numbers and being subscribed to Russian channels on social networks, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said on Saturday.

According to Mizintsev, the Ukrainian militants are conducting punitive raids in the region, looking for those who may have transferred any information to the Russian armed forced or the people's republics of Donbas.

"The reason for the slightest suspicion is a history of calls and text messages to Russian numbers found in phones, correspondence in various messengers, which contains a condemnation of the current Ukrainian authorities, subscriptions to Russian channels in social networks and the Telegram application installed on smartphones," Mizintsev said.

According to the general, all suspects are being arrested, tortured and threatened with physical violence against their relatives.

During the raids, Ukrainian nationalists are forcibly seizing valuable property and food, which they allegedly plan to use to meet the needs of the armed forces, Mizintsev said.

He also stressed that dozens of those arrested have not returned to their homes and nothing is known about their fate.