"The FSB is blackmailing me": how Russian secret services tried to recruit a volunteer through his son, and why he decided to go to Moscow to save him
Mykhailo Puryshev, a volunteer who is well known in Ukraine for repeatedly travelling to besieged Mariupol to evacuate families, flew to Moscow of his own accord on 17 August 2026. He says he did so because he was being blackmailed: Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB, had threatened to conscript his son into the Russian army and send him to fight against Ukraine unless Puryshev agreed to cooperate.
Shortly before his departure, Ukrainska Pravda managed to speak to some of Mykhailo's friends, and to Mykhailo himself. The volunteer was already outside Ukraine, in Poland, when our conversation took place. Here we tell his story in his own words.
It was the middle of summer 2026. The paperwork was almost complete. Mykhailo Puryshev, a serviceman who was close to being discharged, was doing household chores at his home on the outskirts of Kyiv. A year of military service was behind him, as were his health problems, although he was still feeling the effects of the two heart attacks he'd suffered. Just a few more documents to get hold of, and he could go back to volunteering.
Suddenly a call came through on Telegram. It was his son Oleksandr. Mykhailo hadn't seen him for more than four years. He was an adult now – 18. Mykhailo would probably have struggled to recognise him if they met. Oleksandr sounded anxious.
His son's frightened voice came down the phone. "Dad, there are some people here and they want to talk to you."
Mykhailo ended the call and rushed to find a second phone. Another call came through from his son's number. Mykhailo started recording. A man's voice came down the phone, speaking in Russian.
"Good afternoon, Mikhail [Mykhailo in Russian – ed.]. You understand who you're talking to. The equivalent of your 'security service'. Let's be friends, Mikhail. If you don't want to be friends… you help the military, don't you? How would you feel if your son were on the other side, up against those people? Who matters more to you, Mikhail?"