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According to the SBU spokesperson, recruitment also takes the form of fake job advertisements or "prize games" on Telegram, Discord and WhatsApp, with promises of rewards between $100 and $1,000...
A 16-year-old Ukrainian boy has been arrested in the city of Dnipro on charges of high treason for passing sensitive information to Russian intelligence.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the boy was recruited by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) via the messaging app Telegram, which Moscow is increasingly using to contact young people looking for easy money.
As reported by the British newspaper "Financial Times", the minor had collected photographs and coordinates of military targets, transmitting them in coded form.
He was stopped while pointing his phone at a military post, an activity that investigators believe could have facilitated a Russian attack. That same day, a Russian missile strike hit the Dnipro, killing 20 and wounding more than 170. The boy now faces life in prison. Ukrainian authorities claim this is a systematic Russian strategy aimed at destabilizing the country from within, turning vulnerable teenagers into tools for espionage and sabotage. “The enemy recruits agents among our citizens, including minors,” said SBU director Vasyl Malyuk.
According to SBU spokesman Artem Dekhtiarenko, recruitment also takes the form of fake job advertisements or "prize games" on Telegram, Discord, and WhatsApp, with promises of rewards between $100 and $1,000.
Missions include photographing military targets, sabotaging energy infrastructure, and even unconscious suicide bombings.
A recent case involved two teenagers, aged 15 and 17, involved in an explosion at a train station in Ivano-Frankivsk, in which one of the teenagers was killed. In another incident, a 19-year-old girl in Kharkiv allegedly planted a bomb on a scooter donated to the Army, killing a soldier.
Authorities have launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness among teenagers, with warnings sent via text messages, posted on billboards and broadcast on trains. SBU officers have been invited to schools to teach them how to spot begging attempts.
According to the police dealing with crimes committed by minors in Ukraine, by the end of May, about 50 minors had reported recruitment attempts from Russia.
The SBU also warns of new Russian tactics: agents posing as Ukrainian officials to lure children into acts of sabotage or cyber intrusion.
Some minors have been charged as adults, which has raised concerns among human rights defenders.
Human Rights Watch stresses that even in times of war, children should be treated according to international standards of juvenile justice, with a focus on reintegration. Ukrainian authorities say the minors have access to legal aid and that the cases are still being investigated. "We see them as traitors to the state," Malyuk said. / Adapt Pamphlet/
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