Russia is using games to recruit Ukrainian children for sabotage
Russian intelligence agencies are attempting to recruit Ukrainian teenagers through online games, messaging apps, and social media to gather information and carry out sabotage. Often, these children do not even realize that they are effectively working for the enemy.
Russia is increasingly using cyberspace as a tool of war against Ukraine, and now children are in its crosshairs. Through online games, messaging apps, and social media, they are gradually being drawn into intelligence gathering and sabotage operations, while the teenagers themselves often do not even realize they are working for Russian intelligence agencies.
Philip Pronin noted that the recruitment scheme is designed to be as inconspicuous as possible and begins with simple in-game tasks or innocent communication. “Children can track the movement of the army, conduct geolocation reconnaissance of critical infrastructure, and even purchase components for explosives. Often, they don’t even suspect that they are working for the Russian Federation,” Pronin said.
According to him, Russian handlers actively use platforms popular among young people, including Roblox, World of Tanks, and Telegram channels, gradually replacing the game with real-world tasks, and payment is made not only in cash but also in game bonuses or in-game currency, which complicates the monitoring and tracking of such schemes.
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have already documented actual cases where teenagers carried out sabotage missions: specifically, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, two minors set fire to Ukrainian Armed Forces military vehicles in exchange for payment from Russian handlers, and according to police, a significant portion of the arson attacks on military equipment may be linked to the involvement of children.
Some stories are even more alarming, as teenagers are sometimes convinced that they are collaborating with Ukrainian agencies, and they sincerely believe this, unaware of who is actually behind the missions.
Pronin also cited a case where the daughter of a Ukrainian soldier was attempted to be drawn into making an explosive device following a family conflict, and only thanks to intervention was a tragedy averted. In Dnipro, a 16-year-old boy planted a homemade explosive device near a Ukrzaliznytsia facility and installed a camera for online surveillance, for which he faces up to 15 years in prison. This was reported by Philip Pronin, head of Ukraine’s State Financial Monitoring Service, in an interview with the Polish publication Onet.
Ukraine has already managed to return 2,126 children abducted by Russia as part of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative.
Ukraine has managed to return two children who were left without parental care in Kazakhstan and found themselves in another country. The brother and sister were evacuated from Almaty following a complex, multi-stage operation coordinated by Ukrainian services. The children are now safe at home.
