A 17-year-old Ukrainian girl with two national police officers: The minor is said to have poisoned a 27-year-old Ukrainian soldier on behalf of Russia.Image: National Police Ukraine
A 17-year-old is said to have poisoned a Ukrainian soldier after contact with Russian secret services. The case represents a growing threat that is increasingly alarming security authorities.
June 6, 2026, 7:33 p.mJune 6, 2026, 7:33 p.m
Simon Cleven / t-online
According to Ukrainian police, a 17-year-old poisoned a soldier in the Ukrainian armed forces on behalf of Russian secret services. The teenager was arrested, the national police announced on Friday. The 27-year-old soldier was found dead in a rented apartment in the western Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr on Thursday. According to initial findings, he died of poisoning.
According to investigators, the teenager was standing via a Telegram channel with a suspected representative of Russian secret services in contact. At the end of May she received a package containing a crystalline substance that was probably methadone. Methadone is a synthetic opioid that is also used in substitution programs for heroin addicts.
On the instructions of her contact, the 17-year-old met the soldier and mixed the drug into alcohol for him. When the man lost consciousness, she is said to have left the apartment. The minor has previous convictions for drug offenses and a crime against public safety. The investigation into the case continues.
Russia recruits minors for sabotage and espionage
The case fits into a development that Ukrainian security authorities have been warning about for months. Russia is increasingly recruiting minors for sabotage, espionage and other covert operations. According to the Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU, 21 percent of suspected collaborators arrested in 2025 were young people.
Research by the Financial Times shows how systematic recruitment is now taking place. Accordingly, young people are contacted via Telegram, Tiktok, Discord or online games. The recruiters promise money, often in cryptocurrencies, and disguise their orders as a game, challenge or simple errands. Not only Russian agents are active, but also those from Iran.
Young people as “disposable agents”
However, such cases are particularly common in Ukraine. There, young people are said to have provided Russian clients with information about military locations, set vehicles on fire or built explosive devices. According to the SBU, even children as young as eleven were recruited. Investigators also report Cases in which minors died in attacks. Russian clients described such helpers as “disposable agents”.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Russia is deliberately exploiting the vulnerability of young people to manipulation. Many of the young people do not fully understand the consequences of their actions. At the same time, communication via messenger services and gaming platforms makes it more difficult to solve such cases.
Security authorities are now observing similar developments outside of Ukraine. In Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands and Great Britain, young people were arrested for suspected sabotage, espionage or arson crimes. European investigators fear that a method of hybrid warfare developed in Ukraine is increasingly spreading to other countries.