Ukrainian infiltrations of Russian government meetings

Ukrainian activist Yevhen Volnov, also known as Major Chornobayev, has conducted multiple infiltrations of closed Russian government video conferences.

In early August, Volnov joined a Russian Ministry of Defence call regarding the defence budget. The meeting included approximately 50 participants, such as ministry officials and weapons factory managers. Volnov claimed he identified all attendees and warned that Ukrainian drones could strike targets within Russia’s military-industrial complex, causing participants to leave the call in panic.

Later in August, Volnov infiltrated a different session focused on the drone industry, which included officials from the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade and Rosaviatsiya. During this meeting, Rosaviatsiya Deputy Head Andrey Potemkin noted that Russian manufacturers were struggling to compete with Chinese companies. Volnov interrupted the session, posing initially as an employee of a company called Drontech before revealing himself as an agent of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). He accused the officials of corruption and incompetence before the meeting was terminated following his claim that Ukrainian intelligence had identified all attendees.

In a subsequent incident involving a meeting on the drone industry and electronic warfare systems, Volnov interrupted approximately 14 officials and engineers. During the session, Potemkin had noted that domestic manufacturers were failing to meet results, specifically citing slow Russian certification processes compared to faster Chinese procedures. Volnov challenged the participants on how Ukrainian engineers could produce effective combat drones in primitive conditions within three weeks while the Russian aviation industry struggled with bureaucracy despite massive state spending. He accused the group of corruption and suggested funds were being extracted from the state budget without producing necessary equipment.