Adzuna, the UK-based search engine for jobs, claims it has fallen victim to a “Russian war misinformation hit-job” after it featured an advertisement for mercenaries to help in the expected Ukrainian offensive, reports The Times (paywall). The ad asked for “military specialists with good health and psychological stability” from North Africa and the Middle East to take part in the Ukrainian counter-offensive against Russia. In return, the mercenaries were being offered £20,000, along with UK or European Union citizenship, after their contract expires.

The ad went viral among the military community. Adzuna Chief Executive Doug Monro said, “We’ve frozen the ad and are cooperating with various investigations and trying to be transparent about it so this doesn’t happen again to others.”

Adzuna is also cooperating with the authorities to investigate the origins of the hoax, which they believe was concocted by Russia or pro-Russian sympathisers. In a statement, the company said, "We don’t tolerate any fraudulent job ads on Adzuna, and we take extensive measures to ensure the quality of content on the job search platform, used by tens of millions of users globally."