AWKWARD! Russian defense ministry’s official Instagram account accidentally posted a nude selfie
Picture of a scantily-clad (believed to be a nude selfie) woman was accidentally posted on the Russian defense ministry’s official Instagram account, after which all hell broke loose. The picture, however, was immediately removed from the page but not before it sparked a major Twitter debate with netizens speculating the identity of the girl in the picture.
While people are still trying to guess who this mystery woman was, most of the social media users placed their bets on military spokeswoman Rossiyana Markovskaya, who they claim is the face behind the racy picture that was posted.
The picture appeared on verified Mil_Ru account. This account usually shows off Vladimir Putin's military arsenal.
"Whoever runs the Russian Defense Ministry’s Instagram account apparently forgot to log out before a very sexy Saturday afternoon," wrote one while another added, "Where does one sign up for this war?", as reported by The Sun. One of the reasons for people to jump into conclusion and think that Instagram story girl was Rossiyana is because she has brown hair and that she is Russian. Apart from that, there is no real evidence to connect the dots.
However, Rossiyana is known to post some saucy pictures on her Instagram account. No doubt, her Instagram pictures won her an army of followers. While it might be a long wait until we get to know who the girl in the Instagram story was, UNILAD, however, reports that Russian hackers are said to be behind this. According to the publication, these hackers pose as attractive women and try to befriend US troops on Facebook in order to gather information about the country’s military. So, could this also be one of their planned techniques?
As per Politico, there are two reasons why Russia seems to be infiltrating the social media accounts of US troops. One is because Russian spies ‘understand that a great deal can be discerned about what militaries are up to based on the unclassified behavior of soldiers,’ John Bambenek of Fidelis Cybersecurity said. The second one is that it reportedly gives them the chance to make US troops sympathize with Russia ‘by inserting propaganda into their news feeds.’
Serena Moring, a former military contractor from a military family, seems to agree with the second one. Talking to Politico, she revealed that "she first became concerned about pro-Russian sentiment among soldiers on social media last spring, when an unverified report purporting to relate the story of a Russian soldier who died heroically while fighting ISIS in Syria began circulating among American service members on social media."
Serena further added that "she has become further alarmed as friends of hers in the military, including military intelligence, have become avowed admirers of Putin, and that she now expends considerable effort arguing about Russia on Instagram and Facebook channels geared to military audiences."
While we have no clue if the picture was a stunt or mishap, we sure know that people had a great laugh over the incident.