Social media and messaging platforms are circulating news about a supposed “patriotic photo contest.” Participants are offered financial rewards in various categories for submitting photos of bridges, river crossings, railway crossings, highway interchanges, and industrial facilities. This is an obvious trap encouraging state treason. Later, these images could be used to plan attacks and sabotage on Russian soil.
The fraudulent nature of the contest was confirmed by the FSB.
“Participants are promised monetary rewards for submitting photos of bridges, river crossings, railway crossings, highway interchanges, and industrial plants,” stated the FSB Office for the Novosibirsk Region.
Authorities reminded that photographing or filming critical infrastructure and sharing such materials is prohibited. Violators face penalties, including life imprisonment.
Notably, the contest details contain multiple red flags:
- No legal name of the organizers is provided
- There is no official website link
- No terms and conditions document exists
- The promotional image contains a glaring typo (“Theme of the contkest”), unacceptable for any legitimate competition.
This report was prepared in collaboration with “Lapsha.Media”, a project dedicated to debunking disinformation.
