'Mass recruitment of Ukrainians to plant bombs': Russia’s new war tactic against Ukraine? Recruit teenagers to be suicide bombers

Ukrainian officials have accused Russian intelligence services of tricking local youth into unknowingly delivering homemade bombs in a secret campaign of sabotage and terror attacks inside Ukraine. The Guardian reported that a 19-year-old named Oleh narrowly avoided death earlier this year after discovering he had been given a bomb instead of a paint can, as promised in a fake job posted on Telegram.

He was offered $1,000 to travel from eastern Ukraine to Rivne in the west, collect a bag, and spray paint a message on a police station. When he opened the bag, he found wires, a mobile phone and what appeared to be an improvised explosive device. “I thought it was paint,” Oleh told police, according to case documents seen by the Guardian.

Sabotage campaign targeting western Ukraine

Ukraine’s SBU security service believes this is part of a wider Russian sabotage campaign that began in spring 2023. Artem Dekhtiarenko, an SBU spokesperson, told the Guardian the first wave involved arson attacks on army vehicles and offices. In late 2024, he said, Russia escalated to using bombs delivered by local recruits. “They started the mass recruitment of Ukrainians to plant bombs: in cars, near conscription offices, near police departments,” Dekhtiarenko told the Guardian.

More than 700 people have been detained in 2024 for sabotage, terrorism or related charges. Many are poor, unemployed or addicted to drugs. A quarter are reportedly under 18.

Social media jobs, crypto payments, and blackmail

Recruiters contact targets via Telegram, posing as Ukrainians angry at the war. Initial tasks include photographing police stations or hanging anti-war posters. In Oleh’s case, a man called “Anton” first paid him $50 to photograph government buildings. Later, another recruiter named “Alexander” offered $1,000 for what he said would be a harmless paint job.

Oleh brought in his friend Serhiy to help. They travelled across the country by bus. The night before the job, Oleh received a payment of $200 in cryptocurrency and a location pin to pick up the bag.

Bomb planted, but no blast

SBU officers had been monitoring the pair after a similar attack days earlier in the same city. In that case, a 21-year-old man died when a bomb exploded outside a military conscription office, injuring eight others.

Authorities suspected another attack was coming and followed Oleh and Serhiy as they collected the bomb from a tyre near a garage. The device was reportedly filled with screws and nails.

When Oleh opened the package and saw the bomb, he rushed to a nearby officer. The SBU then moved in, arresting both men and safely recovering the explosives.

“They had technical equipment to block the signal,” an SBU officer told the Guardian. If the phone connected to the bomb had been called, the device would have exploded outside a crowded police station entrance.

Russia accused of testing tactics for use in Europe

The SBU believes Russia’s military intelligence (GRU) and security service (FSB) are behind the recruitment. While some recruiters are believed to be Russians, others may be Ukrainians working for Moscow.

In some cases, teenage bomb-makers have also been recruited. One girl arrested in Rivne was shown how to make explosives via online tutorials, the Guardian reported. Ukraine has since launched a school awareness campaign and a Telegram chatbot to report suspicious contacts.