This is not the first time that young people have been detained in Ukraine who are suspected of attacking military or important objects for the country. It is believed that they were recruited by Russian special services.
17-year-old Alexander (name changed) studied in high school, played volleyball and played the guitar. He is now arrested and awaiting sentencing. The boy is suspected of participating in the organization of a terrorist act inspired by Russian special services. Alexander does not hide his involvement in front of the State Duma: "I can't even explain how I agreed to it."
The terrorist act was committed on February 14, 2025 in the city of Nikolaev: a cafe in the city center was blown up, and as investigators established, the homemade explosive device was brought in a bag by a 42-year-old resident of Poltava region. After sitting in the cafe for some time, the woman went out and left the bag by the entrance, where it exploded. The explosion resulted in three victims, as well as the death of the woman who brought the bomb. Ukrainian investigators assume that she acted on the instructions of Russian sponsors who detonated the bomb remotely.
A day later, the police also detained four accomplices in the crime: four boys aged 14, 15, 16 and 17. The investigation's version is that they made the bomb and gave it to the woman. The eldest of them is Alexander.
How Alexander was recruited by the Russians
The boy tells how his friend found a way to earn money through Telegram: "First he took pictures of buildings. Then they offered him a high-paying job". It was about making explosives. The boy attracted three of his friends to this activity, including Alexander. They were promised $2,000.
In accordance with the instructions of the sponsors, the boys made the bomb, put it in a bag and gave it to the woman by courier to take it to Nikolaev. Alexander claims that he did not know what the bomb was for. "My friend told me that it would be sent abroad. They lied to both him and me."
How Russian recruiters work
The sponsors usually work according to a standard scheme: they post ads on Telegram with opportunities to make easy money, skillfully communicate with potential performers and gradually "involve" them in the work, starting with easier tasks, a Ukrainian counterintelligence officer from Nikolaev told DW. "The recruits are "fed" with money, thinking that this is a reward for certain actions. But the security services have established that the performers do not receive the promised payment," the expert says. This is what happened to Alexander and his friends: after the terrorist act, a small amount was transferred to them, but nothing more - the sponsors justified themselves by problems with the transactions. Alexander managed to spend the money he received in one evening, and the next day he ended up in custody.
While the young man explains that he did not understand where the explosive, whose manufacture he was connected to, would be used, the correspondence of his friend, provided to DW by the security services, shows exactly the opposite. "The gift worked", one of the suspects in the organization of the terrorist act wrote to his girlfriend. From then on, the two enjoyed the power of the explosion and the victims it caused.
Connections on Telegram are easy to make
Undercover journalists from DW come across a dubious ad on Telegram with the promise of a considerable payment, after which, on behalf of a 16-year-old youth, they contact two individuals who look in every way like representatives of the Russian special services. They came up with the proposal to set fire to cars of the Ukrainian military administration, promising $ 1,000 for each destroyed car. The sponsors sent detailed instructions on how to find the right car and how to set it on fire - they were talking about all kinds of military vehicles. As an alternative, they proposed setting fire to signaling systems on railway tracks, but in this case the payment was much less.
One of the sponsors was polite, the other was rude, insisted that the job be done quickly, and defined as their global goal "setting fire to absolutely everything". Both were reluctant to answer questions about the motives of their activities, claiming that they did not work for a specific country and were not in Russia.
The Security Service of Ukraine stated that there were already results in identifying specific collaborators of the Russian FSB and GRU services recruiting Ukrainians: charges were brought against them and they were put on the wanted list. The methods of searching and identifying both the recruiters and the recruits are not disclosed.
What is the involvement of minors in terrorist acts in Ukraine
"The Russian FSB and GRU have crossed all red lines", the spokesman for the Security Service of Ukraine, Artyom Dekhtyarenko, told DW. The trend of committing sabotage with the participation of minors began in May 2024: first with arson of cars or objects on railway routes, and from the beginning of 2025 - with real terrorist acts.
In early March in Ivanovo-Frankivsk, a homemade bomb exploded in the hands of two boys, who, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), made it on behalf of the Russian special services. Investigators assume that the bomb was triggered remotely. A 17-year-old boy died, and his 15-year-old accomplice lost his legs and eyesight.
A little later, the OSS and the police detained a 14-year-old schoolgirl in the Ternopil region, whom, according to investigators, the occupiers planned to detonate together with a bomb near the regional police headquarters. The investigation established that the Russian sponsors forced the girl to make the bomb, threatening to post her nude photos, to which they had access, on the Internet. According to Dekhtyarenko, by organizing such acts, the Russian special services "are trying to destabilize the socio-political situation in Ukraine and sow panic in society."
Who are the most vulnerable?
The most susceptible to recruitment are those members of the population who have various addictions, the unemployed and minors, says the OSS spokesman. Since 2024, the Security Service and the police have detained more than 600 people on suspicion of collaborating with Russian special services. More than half of them are unemployed, 22 percent are minors.
Alexander, who is awaiting his sentence, says he is preparing for the most severe punishment - it could reach 15 years in prison. The young man expresses regret for what he has done. "That's all I think about. But how could I reveal the scheme? Where could I get out of it?". When asked by DW why he decided to speak to journalists, he replied: "So that people know how not to act and that this is punishable".