Ukraine's national police chief, Ivan Vyhivskyi, has accused Russia of recruiting young Ukrainian women, some as young as 17, to carry out targeted killings of Ukrainian military personnel. In an interview with Cenzor.NET, Vyhivskyi detailed a scheme where Russian operatives use messaging platforms like Telegram to find and instruct these women, promising them money.
Vyhivskyi stated that these women are told to search for military personnel on dating websites and are provided with instructions on how to obtain methadone to poison their drinks. He reported that there have been six such cases arranged via Telegram this year, with one attempt being thwarted. Police recently detained a 17-year-old woman in the Zhytomyr region following the poisoning of a serviceman, who was allegedly communicating with a suspected Russian security services agent.
A spokesperson for Telegram confirmed that attempts to recruit people for sabotage on the platform are routinely detected and removed, emphasizing that Telegram is a platform for peaceful communication and privacy.
Ukraine's security service has reported that over 1,100 Ukrainians have been accused of treason, terrorism, or sabotage during the war.