Overview

• SBU agents intercepted multiple Telegram-based recruitment networks this month that promised teenagers easy money to deliver or plant improvised explosive devices
• Security services tracked signals and recovered devices wired with shrapnel before any bombs could detonate
• Kyiv attributes the operation to Russia’s GRU and FSB as part of a broader hybrid-warfare strategy evolving from 2023’s arson to last year’s foiled bomb plots
• More than 700 suspects were detained in 2024 on charges including sabotage and terrorism, with roughly a quarter of those arrested under 18
• The new school awareness program and Telegram reporting chatbot empower civilians to flag suspicious recruitment contacts