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Security Services Expose 16-Year-Old Russian Agent in EU Recruiting Teens for Terror Attacks in Ukraine
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The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has uncovered a Russian agent operating from within the European Union who helped organize terrorist attacks in Ukraine on orders from Russian intelligence, the agency reported.
According to the SBU on October 6, counterintelligence officers detained a minor who, while abroad, was recruiting Ukrainians to carry out planned terrorist attacks. Most of those he recruited turned out to be teenagers looking for “easy money.”
The suspect was detained at Ukraine’s western border after being deported by Polish authorities.
Investigators identified the perpetrator as a 16-year-old native of Kharkiv who left for the EU in the autumn of 2024. While there, he searched for under-the-table jobs on Telegram channels and came to the attention of Russian special services. After being recruited, he was instructed to find potential executors of terrorist acts in Ukraine and connect them directly with Russian handlers for further instructions.
According to the SBU, two of the agents he recruited—both 15-year-olds from Kharkiv—carried out bombings near police departments in the city’s Slobidskyi and Kholodnohirskyi districts in December 2024. The girl retrieved a homemade explosive device from a cache, while the boy assembled another device packed with metal bolts. They planted the explosives at the intended locations but were detained immediately after Russian operatives remotely detonated the bombs.
The investigation also established that the underage agent recruited his 21-year-old acquaintance from the front-line city of Kostiantynivka for another attack. Earlier this year, she arrived in Odesa region, rented an apartment, built an explosive device using plastic explosives, and planted it near the local military enlistment office. Law enforcement officers detained her “in the act,” preventing the attack.
Based on the collected evidence, SBU investigators charged the deported Russian agent under Part 5 of Article 27 and Part 2 of Article 258 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code—aiding and abetting terrorist acts committed by a group of persons.
The suspect remains in custody and faces up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Previously, SBU exposed an infiltrator within the Defense Forces who was plotting to facilitate a Russian breakthrough in the Kharkiv region.
Military counterintelligence detained a 26-year-old serviceman who had been recruited by Russian intelligence through a Telegram channel promising “easy money.” The suspect agreed to cooperate with the enemy in exchange for funds to pay off his gambling debts.
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