MARCH 2023

FAKE IDS AND RUSSIA
2022-2023 STORIES IN THE NEWSRUSSIA REPORTEDLY ISSUINGPASSPORTS TO UKRAINIAN CHILDREN
AND PULLING THEM INTO THE COUNTRY
The United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) says that Russia
is issuing passports in occupied
Ukraine to Ukrainian children andputting them up for adoption.
Commissioner Filippo Grandi said

Russia is violating the "fundamental
principles of child protection" in wartime.
"Giving them (Russian) nationality or having
them adopted goes against thefundamental principles of child protection insituations of war," Grandi said. Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked theagency and the world to create
mechanisms to “defend and return” children
deported to Russia, as well as adults, and topunish those responsible. Grandi said Russia
has not allowed the agency enough accessto estimate the total number of children
brought into Russia.

idsecuritynow.org
01 / 04

EU WON’T ACCEPT RUSSIAN DOCUMENTS
ISSUED IN OCCUPIED COUNTRIESThe European Union decided not to accept
Russian identity documents issued in Ukraine orGeorgia, citing Russia’s "unprovoked andunjustified military aggression against Ukraine."
This follows Russia’s attempts to incorporate thepopulation of its occupied neighbors byeffectively rendering their native documents
administratively useless, mass issuing Russian
documents, and, in many cases, forcefullytransferring populations into Russia. In astatement, the European Union said “Russiantravel documents issued in, or to persons
resident in, Russian-occupied regions in Ukraineor breakaway territories in Georgia will not be
accepted as valid travel documents for
obtaining a visa or crossing the borders of theSchengen area. Russian travel documents issued
in these regions are already not recognised, or in
the process of not being recognised, by EU
member states. This decision aims to set out acommon approach, ensure the proper
functioning of the external border and common
visa policies and safeguard the security of EU
member states.”

LAZY COUNTERFEITERS LEAVEEVIDENCE IN ATTEMPTED CRIMEADISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN
Russians continue to use fake IDs as aweapon in their war against Ukraine.
This time, they are spreading a digitallyaltered image of a Ukrainian ID on social
media in order to claim it belonged toan alleged “terrorist” who bombed theCrimean bridge. The problem is, thecrafty counterfeiters forgot to edit mostof the biographical data.
Ukrainian news sources immediately recognized the doctored document as
the country’s exemplar, simply altered to replace the original woman’s facewith a man’s and spruced up with burn marks and blood for effect. The
name and sex were also changed, but every other data field was left overfrom the original exemplar, including document number, “00000000.”

www.idsecruritynow.org

02 / 04

FINLAND SEEING A RISE IN FALSE
DOCUMENTS USED AT ITS BORDER
WITH RUSSIA
Authorities in Finland are reporting a
disturbing trend in fake documents beingat its Eastern border with Russia. The
Southeast Finland Border Guard says it
has seen an exceptionally large number offalse and forged documents being usedby people attempting to enter the country.
In just 10 days this month, officials spotted 22 fake Belgian residence permit cards atcrossings. They were reportedly high quality and cost thousands of euros, though notundetectable to border inspector document evaluation specialists. A disturbing numberof counterfeit Schengen-area border control stamps were also uncovered in many
passports presented at crossing points. Those using the fake documents came “mainlyfrom around the Caucasus region — including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts ofSouthern Russia — and their final destinations were chiefly in Central Europe.”
Just last week, a man was detained at a border crossing point after he presented afraudulent Serbian passport with five forged Schengen border control stamps, as well as acounterfeit driver’s license and ID card. Another man, a Russian citizen, presented aforged Italian residence permit in an attempt to cross.

RUSSIA MAY HAVE MADE FAKE IDS TOBACK UP ASSASSINATION STORYThe Express, a newspaper in the UnitedKingdom, is casting aspersions on thenarrative Russian President Vladimir Putin
is pushing out regarding the car bombingthat killed Daria Dugina in Moscow thismonth. The Russian security service, FSB,
claimed that the assassination was carried out by a woman serving in theUkrainian army and the Azov Batallion, who infiltrated Russian borders undercover
before carrying out the attack. They released an alleged passport photo of thewoman in question, along with a video purporting to show her in Moscow. TheExpress, however, asked a data analyst what she thought of the photo. “Sharing
close-up pictures of the passport image and explaining the editing process stepby-step, Ms Linnamae claimed that a ‘photoshop artist’ spent some ‘quality time’with editing tools. In an unverified series of pictures, she pointed out a ‘killer
shadow effect’, saying there are ‘no limits to what you can achieve with somegaussian blur.’”

www.idsecruritynow.org

03 / 04

KEEPING IDENTITIES SAFE

SPECIAL REPORT

Special Report:

RUSSIAN FRAUDSTER
IN NEW HAMPSHIRECHARGED WITHSENDING MILITARY
EQUIPMENT TO RUSSIA
A Russian man in New Hampshire wasusing a fake identity as part of asmuggling ring that sent American
military equipment into Russia,
according to federal prosecutors.
Alexey Brayman is one of seven
defendants on trial for aninternational smuggling scheme thatsent restricted products throughEstonia, Finland, Germany, and/orHong Kong before reaching their

VADIM KONOSHCHENOK, DEFENDANT IN
RUSSIAN SMUGGLING CASE

destination in Russia, which is starved

Another man connected withfor munitions amidst its ongoing

Brayman’s scheme, Vadim

invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing

Konoshchenok (right) was stopped

sanctions. He faces charges alongby police in Estonia near thewith a director of a Moscow-based

Russian border with 35 types ofmachinery company that contracts

semiconductors, thousands ofwith Russian intelligence, among

6.5mm bullets made in Nebraska,others.

and ammunition for sniper rifles.
He is a suspected Russian

Our readers are well-versed in theintelligence officer.

many types of crooks using fake
identities, but we don’t often discuss"With three of the defendants now

arms dealers. According to CBS News,in custody, we have disrupted the“Livshits is accused of communicatingprocurement network allegedly

directly with the U.S. companies, often

used by the defendants andusing the alias ‘David Wetksy’ to

Russian intelligence services topurchase the desired military-grade

smuggle sniper rifle ammunition

equipment. In one example,and sensitive electronic

prosecutors claimed Livshits used thecomponents into Russia," Attorney

alias in the spring of 2022 — after

General Merrick Garland said in a

Russia's invasion of Ukraine hadstatement. "The Justicebegun — to contact an Illinois-based

Department will continue toelectronics distributor about

vigorously enforce our economic

purchasing a type of electric signal-

sanctions and export controls

monitoring system that is restrictedagainst those who enable theby the Commerce Department for

Russian government to continue its

anti-terrorism reasons.”

unjust war in Ukraine.”

www.idsecruritynow.org

04 / 04