Authorities in Russia’s Belgorod region publish then delete announcement about bot for informing on neighbors

The official Telegram account of the government of Russia’s Belgorod region published a post Tuesday that said the Federal Security Service (FSB) had launched a bot to help residents denounce people with “anti-Russian sentiments.” The message was deleted shortly after it appeared.

The announcement said the bot, which it called “The Search for Bad People,” would accept reports about:

• People located on Russian territory (or Russian-occupied territory) who have transmitted information about the positions of Russian troops;
• People who have distributed illegal flags, patches, emblems, or symbols;
• People who have tried to “destabilize the situation” in Russia and who are working for the Ukrainian Security Service or other “Kyiv regime formations”;
• People organizing sabotage attacks on Russian territory;
• People on Russian territory who openly show anti-Russian sentiments.

The Telegram post said that the reports sent through the bot would be given to the FSB’s Belgorod branch. It also included a link to a profile on the Russian social media site VKontakte with the name Anzhelika Abramkina and said residents could send their reports in private messages to that user.