1/ In what may be a bizarre case of mistaken identity, the Russian FSB has killed a group of Russian people it claims are pro-Ukrainian saboteurs – but who reportedly appear to be Airsoft enthusiasts who were engaged in live-action roleplay of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video games.

2/ The Russian media reported on 23 November that the FSB had killed three people in Voronezh who it claimed were members of a "conspiratorial cell of supporters of Ukrainian nationalist ideology." They died during an attempt to "extract the means of terror" from a location.

3/ It's not clear what the three men were supposedly planning. But according to the Moscow Times, two of the three were well-known participants in the Voronezh airsoft community. One used the nickname Stalker Phosgene for live-action roleplay based on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games.

4/ The FSB showed off a banner with an emblem in the form of a green wolf's head in profile and the inscription "Воля" ("Will"). It was highlighted on Russian state TV with the claim that it was the "flag of the far-right [Ukrainian] nationalist party Volya".

5/ In fact, as the Moscow Times points out, it's a symbol from the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, where it's used by a faction of Stalkers called Svoboda (Freedom). stalker.fandom.com/wiki/Freedom

Do you want to earn the respect of fellow stalkers? Do you want to build a team of loyal friends who will stick up for you in times of trouble? Do you dream of kicking some Duty ass? All this and...

stalker.fandom.com/wiki/Freedom

Freedom | S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Wiki | Fandom

Do you want to earn the respect of fellow stalkers? Do you want to build a team of loyal friends who will stick up for you in times of trouble? Do you dream of kicking some Duty ass? All this and...

6/ The Ukrainian political party Volya has a completely different logo. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_(…

7/ This isn't the first time the FSB appears to have got confused by video games: in April, it apparently confused three SIM cards with the game The Sims 3. /end twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/st…

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Apr 26 22

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This bizarre story about Russia seemingly mistaking SIM cards for the PC game The Sims 3 has been causing a lot of amusement. I don't think it's down to stupidity, though - here's a suggestion for how this may have happened. /1 nypost.com/2022/04/25/rus…