Teenagers from Kharkiv recruited by FSB via Telegram detained
In Kharkiv, law enforcement officers detained underage agents of the Russian special services who detonated explosives near two district police stations. The occupiers recruited them via Telegram.
This was reported by the SSU press service on Monday, December 16.
How teenagers helped the FSB
According to the investigation, the perpetrators detonated explosive devices near police stations in the Sloboda and Kholodnohirsk districts of Kharkiv. No one was injured in the incident.
"The enemy agents were two 15-year-old residents of the regional center — a boy and a girl. The invaders recruited them through Telegram channels in search of "easy" money," the statement said.
Law enforcement officers noted that the teenagers acted separately from each other and each performed their own "task" but on the instructions of a joint curator from Russia.
"To fulfill the task, the young man prepared a homemade explosive with his own hands. For this purpose, he was provided with detailed instructions, in particular, to fill the explosive device with metal balls and install a detonator for remote activation. The girl took the ready-made explosives from the stash," the SSU added.
The SSU said that each of the defendants independently disguised the explosive devices in packages and left them in garbage containers near police stations.
"The attackers also covertly planted cell phones near these buildings, allowing the enemy to remotely detonate them and record the aftermath on video. Thus, the aggressor hoped to sow panic and undermine the socio-political situation in the region," the Security Service says.
SSU investigators served the detainees with a notice of suspicion under the article on terrorist acts. They face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of assets for committing a particularly serious offense.
As we reported earlier, the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police detained Russian agents who detonated an explosive device near the district police department in Zhytomyr. A law enforcement officer was injured in the explosion.
As a reminder, three young men were setting important facilities on fire in different regions of Ukraine at the request of an Internet curator. The youngest of them is 15 years old. Now the boys face prison terms.