Invaders duped by a dating app teen who lures Russian soldiers into giving away their location
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Ukrainian online Mata Hari: Russian troops are cheated by an 18-year-old woman who uses a dating app to trick them into revealing their location in Ukraine by flirting with them
- Teen girl continues dating app posing as Russian to track down enemy troops
- A soldier sent her photos of a boarding school used as a military base
- Another soldier even showed a mansion where he was guarding a high-ranking officer
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A Ukrainian teenage girl, forced by war to flee her home in Kherson, has revealed that she went on a dating app masquerading as a Russian to track down enemy troops and reveal where they were stationed.
She was so successful that one soldier boasted that he was fighting to earn money for a luxury car and sent her photos of a boarding school used as a military base.
Another showed a mansion where he guarded a high-ranking officer.
Her exploits are reminiscent of those of World War I German spy Mata Hari, whose top-class lovers told her about the Allies’ new secret weapon, the tank.
But for Lisa — not her real name — her inspiration came from a girl on TikTok who had befriended a Russian soldier, asked where he served, and passed the information on to the Ukrainian military.
Eager to impress: Russian troops who told Lisa about their exploits. Typical was Ilgis Hafizov, 24, from western Russia, who served to save for his marriage, but then broke up with his fiancée, so he decided to buy a car
The 18-year-old created a fake profile on a dating app while occupied in Kherson, saying she was a young Russian woman who liked military men.
Soon she was chatting with enamored soldiers, sending text messages, videos, and voicemails.
Typical was Ilgis Hafizov, 24, from western Russia, who served to save for his marriage, but then broke up with his fiancée, so he decided to buy a car. “I’m saving up for a BMW,” he boasted.
Lisa passed her information on to investigative journalists at Slidstvo.info, who used internet data to identify locations.
Lisa, who fled Kherson last month, said her life had been devastated by the invasion. “We have left our birthplace and can’t go back there now, but they are there and they are doing well,” she said
“They’re all criminals because they crossed another country’s border with weapons,” Lisa said. “They came to steal, to kill.”
A teenage special forces member, desperate to impress, even sent videos of Russian planes taking off from an airport, saying they would raid to “drop the missiles” and “kill khokhols” [Russian slang for Ukrainians]’.
Nikolai Izmailov, 19, also took pictures posing with a row of helicopters parked behind him in occupied Kherson before “flying to strikes” in Odessa and Kharkov.
“Lisa” said, “I get really mad when they say they’re fine.”
Lisa passed her information on to investigative journalists at Slidstvo.info, who used internet data to identify locations
Slidstvo.info has also tracked down the ‘Golden Pheasant’ eco-mansion used by a top Russian officer after another foolish soldier — Daniil Lapyshev from Siberia — sent her photos and voicemails describing his unit’s location, dug in bunkers in nearby forests.
Lisa, who fled Kherson last month, said her life had been devastated by the invasion.
“We have left our birthplace and can’t go back there now, but they are there and they are doing well,” she said.
“They’re happy as if nothing bad happened.”
Additional coverage: Kate Baklitskaya