More than 1,000 call centers in Ukraine are being used to extort money, the director of the Department of International Information Security of the Russian Foreign Ministry Artur Lyukmanov told Sputnik.

The official said that Russia had previously warned Western countries that the US-backed Ukrainian "IT army" would become a problem for Europe. Lyukmanov described the IT army as "a bunch of hackers and telephone fraud, who are mainly engaged in trivial theft."

Citing data collected by the Department, he said that around 1,000 call centers have been set up as a front for money extortion, which the official said has "become a problem for ordinary Europeans."

The Russian official recalled that Hungarian authorities said in November 2023 that most of the funds stolen in Hungary "as a result of crimes using information and communication technologies and telephone fraud end up in Ukraine," adding that "the geography and scale of criminal activity of these 'fighters for independence' is much wider and is not limited to Europe."

Moreover, the Russian official said the United States and the United Kingdom sent special services' cyber units to Ukraine to train hackers engaged in activities against Russia. 

"Cyber units of special services and armed forces of Anglo-Saxon countries are sent there [to Ukraine] to train and coordinate hackers engaged in activities against Russia."

Additionally, Lyukmanov revealed that the majority of funds going for "information security" are being embezzled. Under such circumstances, the official said a significant portion of the US Cyber Command's $13.5 billion budget will be spent on Ukraine.

Read more: Pentagon blames Russian e-warfare for failed Ukraine counteroffensive

US, UK encourage Ukrainian terrorism

On New Year's Eve, Russia slammed Ukraine for carrying out a "terrorist attack" on civilians in Belgorod. The incident involved the use of contentious cluster munitions in strikes that resulted in the death of at least 21 individuals and left dozens more injured.

Russian authorities reported that the casualties comprised a minimum of three children, with 17 children among the 110 individuals injured. Moscow stressed that this attack would face repercussions and "not go unpunished."

Concurrently, Russia's Foreign Ministry stressed that the United States and Britain were "encouraging the Kiev regime to engage in terrorist actions."

"We have reports that the UK and American consultants took direct part in organizing this terrorist attack and they regularly encourage the Ukrainian government to carry out bloody crimes," Nebenzia said during an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council, following the attack.

The Ukrainians are now committing terrorism. Rather than aim their artillery at Russian forces on the battlefield, whom they’re losing badly against, they’ve decided to target the city of Belgorod with cluster munitions, killing over 20 people including children and injuring… pic.twitter.com/YC5WeKo2eG

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 31, 2023