14-Year-Old Girl Accused of Poisoning, Strangling Ukrainian Soldier on Russian Handler’s Video Call

A 14-year-old girl in western Ukraine will stand trial on charges of killing a Ukrainian soldier in an operation allegedly directed by Russia’s security services, police said Friday, Oct. 9. Investigators in the Rivne region said they had completed their investigation and sent an indictment to court accusing the teenager of premeditated murder committed on contract and in conspiracy with others. She remains in pretrial detention.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. According to a police statement, the girl poisoned a 27-year-old serviceman with alcohol mixed with methadone before strangling him while receiving instructions from a handler over a video call. Alleged recruitment through Telegram Police said the teenager met a Russian citizen on Telegram who, acting on instructions from an employee of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), recruited her to kill a Ukrainian serviceman. Investigators said she had developed romantic feelings for the handler, who promised to arrange her travel to Russian-controlled territory after she carried out the assignment. On Jan. 30, the girl went to a rented apartment and prepared drinks containing a narcotic substance that those commissioning the killing had sent through a delivery company. The soldier, whom she had met through a messaging app 10 days earlier, subsequently arrived at the apartment. After drinking the mixture, he lost consciousness. The girl then strangled him while on a video call with the handler, according to police. They said he died of mechanical asphyxia. Other Topics of Interest Montenegro Detains Russian Z-Blogger Targeted by US The Russian pro-war blogger was reportedly filming a documentary on Montenegro’s EU integration. His phones and documents were reportedly seized. Officers detained the teenager shortly afterward. Police said they had also identified the handler and the person who organized the alleged contract killing. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) is handling the proceedings against them. The SBU has previously warned that Russian intelligence uses “honey traps” to target Ukrainian soldiers, including alleged plots involving poisoned drinks and meetings arranged through dating platforms. Separate military vehicle arson case Investigators also accuse the girl of setting fire to an Opel Campo military vehicle in Rivne on Nov. 11 at Russia’s direction. She was allegedly promised $1,000 for the attack but never received the money. A separate SBU investigation involving allegations of treason during martial law, obstruction of the armed forces’ lawful activities and deliberate destruction of property by arson has also been sent to court, according to the statement. The penalties under these articles provide for: Imprisonment for a term of 15 years or life imprisonment, with confiscation of property; Imprisonment for a term of five to eight years; Imprisonment for a term of three to 10 years. Ukrainian authorities have reported other cases in which Russian handlers allegedly recruited young people for arson before assigning attacks on people. In Zaporizhzhia, the SBU said it detained two teenagers accused of plotting to kill Ukrainian servicemen after initially setting fire to their vehicles. In another case, the SBU said a 17-year-old previously detained over military vehicle arson was recruited to bomb a Kyiv military recruitment center while under house arrest. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 90% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.