Teenagers who take part in video games tell of being headhunted to work on technology used against Ukraine

Teenagers who take part in video games tell of being headhunted to work on technology used against Ukraine

Russian authorities have systematically involved children in the design and testing of drones for the country’s war in Ukraine through nationwide competitions that begin with innocent-seeming video games and end up with the most talented students headhunted by defence companies, an investigation has found.

The revelations, part of an investigation by the exiled Russian news outlet the Insider, are the latest to show just how much Russia’s leaders are dragging the country’s youth into the war effort in Ukraine, with “patriotic” and militarised education often spilling over into outright participation.

“The kids are actively involved in modelling components of systems for various drones,” one of the teenagers involved told a journalist. “I know of several people at least who were modelling UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] components for major enterprises.”

  • gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com
    1·
    14 days ago

    The correspondents posed as reporters from state-controlled media outlets. Independent journalism has essentially been outlawed in Russia since the state of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with most of those still working forced into exile.

    By posing as state-controlled journalists still in the country, the reporters hoped their interviewees would feel more comfortable sharing sensitive information with them.

    Does this put the kids at risk of retaliation? I suppose they’re counting on there being so many teens doing this that they can’t narrow it down, but this approach doesn’t seem very responsible…

      • gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com
        1·
        13 days ago

        You can still narrow down who it may have been through other means, such as security footage or asking around if any of the kids have been wandering, talking to strangers, or were absent when they normally wouldn’t be.

        Given that Russia is at war and they have a history of surveillance and intimidation of their own people, even scientists working on top secret projects, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that these teens are not safe now.

        • jaybone@lemmy.zipEnglish
          1·
          13 days ago

          This is all true. If the teens are found out, hopefully any punishment will not be too harsh as also the reporters posed as state media, which the teens can say they thought was sanctioned by the government. (Maybe they even believed that themselves.)