Open source

The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, which used to be called GRU attempted to influence the policy of the U.S. Congress for Ukrainian issue in 2015, reports The Washington Post.

The Washington Post found letters, which GRU’s agents sent to American senators on the behalf of ‘Patriot of Ukraine’ organization. The intelligence wrote in “broken English” and asked for saving Ukraine, whose pro-Western government is fighting pro-Russian separatists.

The letters read about the level of corruption in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the officers’ weapons sale to the terrorists of “Donetsk People's Republic”. The authors of the letters asked to send experienced specialists from the U.S. and NATO to replace the Ukrainian commanders.

‘We hope you are able to influence the White House, Pentagon and State Department and achieve the agreement to send western officers to Ukraine for direct control of our Armed Forces,’ reads one of the letters.

The GRU unit behind the emails, known as Unit 54777, or the 72nd Special Service Center, is the center of the Russian military’s psychological-warfare capability, say Western intelligence officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified information.