Russian spy network exploits Ukrainian teenagers in Europe

A hundred dollars for burning a van, a few hundred more for planting a bomb or quick cash for taking a photo of a strategic location: Russian intelligence services have found a new, cheap – and increasingly effective – way to carry out sabotage operations across Europe. They are recruiting Ukrainian children and teenagers online, luring them with gamified “tasks” and small financial rewards.

Daniil Bardadim was just 17 years old when he planted an explosive device in an IKEA store in Vilnius in 2024. This week, a Lithuanian court convicted him of terrorism and other charges, sentencing him to three years and four months in prison for carrying out the attack on behalf of Russia – despite being a native Ukrainian himself.

According to Lithuanian intelligence services, the teenager was likely tasked with targeting the Swedish furniture giant for two reasons: IKEA's withdrawal from Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the fact that Sweden is a strong supporter of Ukraine. But Bardadim is not the only Ukrainian teenager to have been involved in Russia's hybrid warfare in both Ukraine and Europe recently.

Adolescents and teenagers

In April, a 19-year-old woman was arrested for manufacturing and placing an explosive device on an electric scooter donated to the Ukrainian military. She was also Ukrainian.

In October, Polish police detained a 16-year-old Ukrainian refugee on suspicion of collaborating with Russia by remotely recruiting young people in his homeland to carry out attacks and murders for money.

Ukraine is aware of the phenomenon and has been monitoring the problem for some time. In July, it released a video warning young Ukrainians against doing the dirty work of Russian spies — sometimes without even realizing it.

Citing the Ukrainian security service (SBU), the BBC reported that of the approximately 800 Ukrainians who have been recruited by Russia over the past two years, around 240 of them are minors, some as young as 11. A hybrid war version of Pokémon Go

Most of the young people were spotted by Russian "recruiters" on the messaging app Telegram.

"Some of them are organized like a game. Where you're supposed to collect certain information in certain places or distribute things. So it's almost like the game Pokémon Go" where the player earns rewards for completing tasks, explained Elena Grossfield, an expert on contemporary Russian intelligence at King's College London.

This “limitation” strategy is implemented on specific Telegram channels and TikTok accounts, where Russian agents disguise themselves with nicknames that reference pop culture. The New York Times reports that one agent called himself “Q” — as in James Bond’s clever gadget master.

Vlad, 17, told the BBC how he was recruited by the Russians on Telegram after posting an advert for remote work. His first mission involved collecting a hidden grenade. Although he never managed to find it, he was still paid $30.

A few days later, he was given another task: to set fire to a van belonging to a Ukrainian recruitment center. For this more dangerous mission, he was told he would be paid $1,500. He was not paid. Instead, he received $100 in cryptocurrency and was told he would get the rest if he planted a bomb in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Rivne, about 800 kilometers from his home.

Village informants

But young Ukrainians are not the only ones who are of interest to Russian intelligence services for these types of operations. Experts speak of a kind of “Uberization” of Moscow’s hybrid warfare efforts.

"They've gone for quantity over quality" in finding field operatives, Grossfield explained.

The long-term strategy of recruiting sleeper agents abroad – an art at which the KGB excelled during the Cold War – is no longer high on the list of priorities. It is far more efficient to find large numbers of local foot soldiers on the ground – often from the criminal underworld – who are not necessarily well-trained but who are easy to replace if arrested.

This is why young Ukrainians meet all the right criteria for Russia.

"On a day-to-day level, Russia is using it on a massive scale," said Huseyn Aliyev, a specialist on the war in Ukraine at the University of Glasgow.

The missions they are typically tasked with include providing intelligence about the Ukrainian military and potential targets for attack. “Troop movements, the location of weapons factories, potential military bases, and so on.”

The number of informants is growing exponentially in some areas, he said, noting that some small villages can easily contain dozens of people selling intelligence to Russia for money.

Games and money

According to Aliyev, the Russian campaign to recruit young people to burn cars and other vehicles "all over Ukraine" began about a year ago.

"They received instructions on how to make Molotov cocktails and things like that and throw them at parked cars," he said.

Although the trend now seems to have somewhat subsided – largely thanks to numerous arrests and the SBU’s awareness campaign – the Russians have barely given up on exploiting young Ukrainians.

"The scheme is evolving," he said, adding that they are now being used to take and transfer photos and to place small explosive devices.

Erik Stijnman, a specialist in military security issues related to the Russia-Ukraine war at the Netherlands Institute for International Affairs, Clingendael, said that “connected young people are more likely to get involved in this. They see it as exciting and are probably not able to see the whole picture and the extent of the damage they are causing to themselves and their nation.”

Ukrainian authorities report that Russians have been having contact with children as young as 10. And they use two main motivators to lure them: money and ego.

"So there's excitement involved," he said, because the child or teenager wants to prove they can do the task — while being rewarded with money.

Causing fear among Ukrainian refugees

Grossman said Russia has only one thing to gain by using children in this way. “There’s no oversight, there’s no prosecutorial component that can limit their power. So why not recruit someone who’s 9 years old? He can move the components from one place to another.”

In addition, Stijnman said, children "may be more easily affected" than adults.

Russia is not limiting its child recruitment to Ukraine, Aliyev said.

"There are so many Ukrainian refugees all over Europe. And people are desperate to get that money."

These refugee children also offer another valuable advantage: “You can travel anywhere in the European Union with a Ukrainian passport,” he said.

They also serve as gateways for more recruits, Grossfield said. “Remember that a lot of people, especially teenagers, need money. And they would do a lot of things for money, and so teenagers recruit their friends as well.”

That's exactly what the Ukrainian teenager detained in Poland is suspected of doing. While these young men may not be trusted with the most sensitive missions, their operations can cause a lot of damage, like the explosion at the IKEA store in Lithuania.

But perhaps even more damaging, Stijnman said, is the psychological impact of these sabotage operations. Because for every piece of news suggesting that a Ukrainian has collaborated with Russia, there is a risk that Western public opinion will start to swing against Ukraine. “That is probably the point of these operations – that it sends a strong signal that Ukrainians are turning against Europe – so why should we support them?”

Grossfield said this automatically puts a target on the back of every Ukrainian refugee because it creates a general suspicion. It risks alienating them, she said, “which, in turn, makes them easier to recruit.”

https://www.france24.com