On February 24, official law enforcement agency websites began to spread information about the marks applied with reflective paint, and called to throw earth on top of them and destroy them.
There have been daily reports of such marks appearing on the roofs of apartment buildings or hospital walls, and information on various variations of such marks. Cyberpolice then launched a Telegram bot to promptly notify law enforcement officers of the appearance of any such signs, the saboteurs who place them, and the movement of enemy equipment in general. However, at a briefing on February 27, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the head of the President’s Office, said that the marks were intended to spread panic among the population rather than correct the shelling. Strikes are guided by other modern technical means. And this practice can be aimed at creating “spy mania” in us, — said Arestovych.
According to information from a reliable OPORA’s source from high-ranking law enforcement officers, such marks are used for at least two purposes. First — in order to understand which roads should enemy columns take — where there will be no ambush or resistance of the population. Second — for the bombing of strategic sites in cities. Such marks are placed on objects around the desired target for further missile strikes. For example, in the Bucha district (Vorzel, Bucha, Irpin) at the time of the full-scale invasion, there were many such marks made with fluorescent paint and reflective tape on trees, and in Kyiv — on the roofs of houses.
Even if these signs do not pose a real threat to people’s lives in the form of shelling, their application is definitely part of an information hybrid war that harms people’s morale, creates panic and does not promote victory.
What kind of Marks are There?
Marks With Fluorescent Paint
Marks With Stickers and Adhesive Tape
Becaon” Marks
Light Marks
Where do Marks Come From?
It is not easy to answer this question precisely. As of now, it is known that their application may be coordinated through social networks. For example, a group called “Booms Claymore Air” was found on Telegram. There, everyone was offered legal work on posting leaflets in several Ukrainian cities (Kyiv, Chernihiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, and others), some of which are being actively fired upon by Russian aircraft. The group noted that this work is completely legal. They offered a monetary reward of about $ 25 (approximately 700 hryvnias). They also asked not to share information about the channel in third-party chats and to invite only “those you can trust”. However, various channels asked to complain about the channel, which spread quickly. On the day of its creation, February 26, about 30,000 people subscribed to the channel at once, and new messages, which were published quite intensively, received many negative reactions. Although one of the reports stated: “We do not work for Russia or Ukraine, we do not engage in terrorism and do nothing illegal…”, another issued a warning “Cancellation, Kyiv, there are people in uniform in the Supreme Court. Nobody should go there. The new coordinates will be provided later” (translated from Russian). As of February 28, the invitation to this Telegram channel no longer works.
In Kyiv, residents of the Parkland residential complex managed to detain an 18-year-old girl who was marking her house. This was reported by one of the residents of the residential complex. According to her, the girl performed this work for a financial reward. It should be noted that this residential complex is located near the Kyiv International Airport (Zhulyany) and the house on Lobanovsky Avenue, where a Russian shell hit on the night of February 26. Residents of the neighboring 4 Seasons residential complex, which is also located next to the military unit of the National Guard of Ukraine, also detained a man who was marking the wall of one of the houses. As the unknown admitted, he rented an apartment in this residential complex recently.
In addition, sabotage teams can tag as well. The media and telegram channels often spread information about suspicious cars circling the cities and being able to put up labels. This was reported, for example, by the “Operative Armed Forces of Ukraine” Telegram channel.
Regarding the Psychological Component
Whether or not such marks are used for military purposes is a matter for military experts to conclude. At the same time, such a powerful wave of information clearly managed to create a mass psychosis in the population, which skillfully joins the “witch hunt”, worsening the emotional and psychological state of citizens, and most importantly — overloading the police services of our country. For example, the former mayor of Yuzhnoukrainsk, Andriy Stulin, who bought the scotch tape and green paint for territorial defense, came under unfounded suspicion. But in Cherkasy, in one of the yards, residents reported a red beacon in the window of the opposite house and called the police. As it turned out, the blinds were not lowered in the apartment, and the red light was spread by a light indicator on household appliances. However, while the issue was being discussed in the local condominium chat, the child who lives in this yard thought that she saw a group of people in military uniforms with weapons coming out of the entrance where the apartment is located. An illustrative situation that demonstrates the level of emotional tension in citizens. In addition, all this happened in the dark, when people already have increased levels of anxiety. The mayors of a number of Ukrainian cities also reported that the police were overwhelmed by calls on suspicion of sabotage.
In addition, in Ukraine, according to the Kyiv City State Administration, criminal liability has been established for sabotage actions of placing marks under Articles 111 (treason) and 113 (sabotage) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Treason is punishable by 12 to 15 years in prison with or without confiscation of property. Sabotage is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 10 to 15 years with or without confiscation of property.