Ukraine Arrests Teen Suspected of Poisoning Soldiers for Russia

Ukrainian authorities have detained a 17-year-old girl suspected of helping Russian intelligence arrange the fatal poisoning of Ukrainian servicemen through drug parcels promoted on Telegram. Police said two soldiers died after receiving capsules containing lethal doses of methadone, while investigators identified four additional potential victims and prevented further deaths. The teenager was arrested in the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, after allegedly following instructions from a Russian handler in exchange for at least 5,000 hryvnias, equivalent to approximately $111, according to Ukrainian police.

Authorities said the investigation was continuing to determine whether she had participated in other crimes. Investigators allege that the operation targeted military personnel through Telegram messages offering free drugs. After recipients received the parcels, they were instructed to consume the contents on camera without knowing that the capsules contained potentially fatal quantities of methadone.

Police said the investigation into the two deaths helped identify four other recipients in Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Chernivtsi and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. According to the National Police of Ukraine, identifying those individuals prevented four additional killings.

The teenager faces allegations of aiding and abetting the premeditated murder of two people through a prior agreement, as well as distributing narcotic and psychotropic substances for sale. Ukrainian authorities said she could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Maksym Tsutskiridze, acting head of the National Police of Ukraine, said the circumstances surrounding the victims' military status did not diminish the seriousness of the alleged operation. The two servicemen who died had reportedly left their military units without authorization, while those who survived remained in service.

Tsutskiridze warned military personnel and their relatives that apparently friendly approaches, gifts and offers of assistance could be used to facilitate hostile operations. He urged people to preserve messages if they experienced pressure or threats and to report suspicious activity to police by calling 102. In his warning, Tsutskiridze addressed servicemen and their families directly.

"I am addressing servicemen and their loved ones. Someone who offers help, sends gifts or persistently seeks a personal meeting may be carrying out the enemy's orders. Be cautious when meeting new people.

Do not accept medicines or other drugs, or food or drinks of dubious origin, from people you barely know. If someone pressures or threatens you to consume something, save the correspondence and report it to the police by calling 102. Get in touch if this happens to a fellow serviceman, too: the information could help prevent a murder in time."

Tsutskiridze said. Police also described the alleged operation as part of a broader effort to recruit individuals for sabotage and other hostile activities during Russia's full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022. Ukrainian authorities say they have opened thousands of investigations into suspected collaboration with Moscow since the invasion began.

In 2023, Ukraine accused Russia of poisoning Marianna Budanova, the wife of Kyrylo Budanov, who then headed Ukraine's military intelligence and later became a presidential adviser. Several personnel associated with Ukraine's military intelligence, known by the Ukrainian acronym GUR, were also diagnosed with poisoning around that time.

Separately, Paris prosecutors opened an investigation in 2023 into the suspected poisoning of a Russian journalist who had attracted attention after displaying an antiwar slogan on Russian state television. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also claimed in an interview with the British tabloid The Sun that he survived at least five or six assassination attempts since Russia's invasion.