Russia is running out of informants in the Ukraine war. Fewer and fewer Ukrainians with pro-Russian sympathies are willing to help Moscow.
The Russians have often used blackmail to force Ukrainians to work for them. Blackmail by Russia is not a new method used by security services, but it has become more widespread since Russia occupied about 20 percent of Ukraine. Russians send photos and videos to family members of prisoners of war, sometimes showing a gun to their head. One victim of such threats was Yana, whose mother was working as a border guard in the northeastern Kharkiv region.