Russian ‘honeytraps’ luring Ukrainians to their deaths after tragic soldier who trained in UK drinks poison-laced booze

A YOUNG Ukrainian soldier trained in the UK was allegedly poisoned in a twisted Russian honeytrap by a spy he fell in love with. Mykyta Orlykivskyi, 23, was found dead inside his flat in a suspected suicide before doctors revealed he had consumed booze laced with deadly toxins. An AI-generated image the suspected Russian spy sent to the Ukrainian soldier Mykyta Orlykivskyi, 23, was found dead inside his flat in a suspected suicide before doctors revealed he had consumed booze laced with deadly toxins Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk Detectives working on Mykyta’s death quickly noticed several worrying signs which his grieving family now claim point to it being a Russian FSB-style attack. Back in April, Mykyta told his loved ones he had met a woman after she reached out to him on Telegram claiming the pair had matched on a dating app. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Mykyta confessed to never using the apps but found her attractive so continued to speak to her after the pair exchanged photos. His heartbroken aunt Tetiana Apalko, 53, told The Times that the mystery woman, aged 30, was only known as Rodnaya, meaning darling in Russian. One of the first conversations the pair had was around Mykyta being a soldier, according to Tetiana. Rodnaya had asked him to send her a photo of himself in his uniform which Mykyta replied with an image of him undergoing military training in the UK at the start of 2024. Tetiana claims it was all a ploy to make sure her young nephew was working for Ukraine. She said: “For the Russian security services it was proof that he was really a soldier. They didn’t need anything else.” Most read in The Sun The real image Mykyta sent to Rodnaya of him in his Ukrainian army gear Another AI image of the pair shared during their fast-tracked relationship Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk Rodnaya would then send him back AI-edited images of her smiling alongside the real picture of Mykyta. The suspected spy, who said she was from Kharkiv, would spend the next two months growing close with Mykyta and even initiating video calls. Mykyta loved the calls but noted the woman would always be sat on her own in front of a plain, white background, Tetiana said. At the end of May, the young couple agreed to finally meet up in Zhytomyr where Mykyta was from. On the day of the date, Rodnaya said she was having travel issues meaning she couldn’t come and would send him a present – said to be a bottle of whisky – to say sorry. Shortly after the failed meet-up, Mykyta was found dead inside his home surrounded by the bottle of liquor and a Swiss army knife on June 9. Detectives searched his flat and uncovered a string of messages and calls between the young Ukrainian and Rodnaya. One of the phone calls happened at around the same time he started to drink the poisoned booze, Tetiana said. Another call was made shortly after Mykyta was found with investigators probing if the call was designed to find out if he had drunk the drink yet. Cops later traced the delivery of the whisky and found it hadn’t been sent from anyone resembling Rodnaya. Detectives believe a 19-year-old man from Poltava, in central Ukraine, had also been recruited on Telegram to inject poison into the bottle and send it on to Mykyta. Tetiana claims she was told the deal was made for the equivalent of a measly £80. An investigation has also now revealed that cops are probing the theory the woman messaging Mykyta for several months was actually locked up in a Russian jail in Donetsk. Part of the suspicions come from the white background she would always use when calling Mykyta. Investigations are ongoing with cops yet to announce if they suspect any Russian influence. An emotional Tetiana paid tribute to her nephew saying: “His whole life was ahead of him. “It’s just so cynical. How is it possible that she could confess her love to him, while all the time knowing that she was going to murder him?” If found to be a result of a Russian honeytrap then it would mark another deadly assault on Ukrainian soldiers by the Kremlin. Back in January, a woman invited a soldier on a date in Zaporizhzhia but he was stabbed six times by a man in a balaclava in a coordinated attack. In April, a 26-year-old woman from Zaporizhzhia was accused of stealing information from a soldier’s phone before poisoning him. Investigators claim the woman was offered £2,800 from Russian spies to kill the Ukrainian man. Another two teen girls are accused of poisoning a soldier with methadone in January. The youngsters filmed the man as he died before allegedly sending it to their FSB handler. There have also been several worrying cases of Ukrainian women catfishing Russian soldiers on dating apps and passing on the information to the Russians so they can pinpoint their locations. Comment now