In Kharkiv, two minors are suspected of murdering a soldier on behalf of the Russian Federation
In Kharkiv, law enforcement officials have notified two underage girls that they are suspects in the murder of a Ukrainian soldier. According to the prosecutor’s office, they acted on the instructions of a Russian handler.
Investigators claim that the girls poisoned the soldier with a narcotic substance and filmed the crime on video to report back to their client. They were allegedly promised a reward of $5,000 for carrying out the task.
A pretrial investigation is currently underway, and law enforcement officials are establishing all the circumstances of the case.
How a Soldier Was Killed on Orders from the Russian Federation
It is reported that late last year, one of the women received an offer via Telegram from a Russian handler to kill a National Guard soldier for $5,000. She accepted the offer and decided to enlist her friend.
According to Papush, in February 2026, the women invited the soldier to a hotel, ostensibly for a vacation together. They had previously received methadone (a narcotic substance) from the client via a parcel locker and, following instructions, mixed it into the vodka they gave the soldier.
They Tried to Cover Up the Crime
“The Russian supervisor, who was monitoring the events via video link, ordered them to strangle the soldier. However, as experts determined during the investigation, the man had already died from poisoning by that point. One of the girls put a plastic bag over the victim’s head, cutting off his air supply, then covered his face with a pillow and held it down,” said Yuriy Papusha.
The girls filmed the entire process on video, and to cover their tracks, they destroyed the drug packaging.
Law enforcement officials quickly identified both perpetrators, who are currently in custody. The minors have admitted to the murder. Other details and the suspects’ accounts of the events are not being disclosed at this time.
This was reported by Yuriy Papusha, head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, in an interview with Ukrinform.
