The FSB reported that Russian teenagers were being recruited through a dating Telegram bot

Russia’s Federal Security Service announced the detention of 56 citizens aged 12 to 24 who are suspected of involvement in subversive activities. According to the agency, since July 2025, young people have been recruited through the “Davyinchik” dating Telegram bot, and Ukrainian intelligence services are allegedly involved in organizing the recruitment.

The FSB claims that the perpetrators, posing as potential romantic partners, asked users to share their geolocation, pay for restaurant orders, or click on phishing links. Subsequently, they were allegedly contacted by people who identified themselves as employees of the FSB or Rosfinmonitoring. These individuals convinced the young people that their money could end up in the hands of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and that the coordinates they provided were being used to carry out attacks. Threatening them with criminal prosecution, they were allegedly persuaded to set fires under the pretext of checking the security of facilities or participating in operational activities.

In August and September 2026 alone, according to the Russian agency, eight teenagers aged 14 to 17 and two young men aged 19 and 24 were detained in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and five other regions. They are suspected of planning or carrying out arson attacks on gas stations, law enforcement vehicles, and energy and transportation infrastructure facilities. Some of the detainees are also accused of transferring money received from defrauded citizens through cryptocurrency exchanges.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation provided details regarding the four detainees. One of the teenagers is suspected of setting fire to two gas stations in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. According to investigators, after meeting a girl through a chatbot, he was contacted by a person who threatened him and his family and demanded that he follow instructions. Two other teenage girls from St. Petersburg are suspected of setting fire to gas stations and police cars.

Another suspect is an 18-year-old resident of Vladivostok. According to investigators, on October 1, he set fire to a transformer cabinet on the Leningrad branch of the Moscow Railway. The court sent him to a pretrial detention center, while the three other teenagers were placed under house arrest. All four are charged with terrorism.

In July, the FSB also charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorist activities. The agency claims that the messaging app’s administration failed to remove channels, chats, and bots that were allegedly used by Ukrainian intelligence services to plan terrorist attacks in Russia. As one example, the FSB cited the “Dainvichik” bot.

This is reported by Russian propaganda media.

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