Ukraine says it has arrested a teenager spying for Russia

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) announced Wednesday that it had detained a 16-year-old girl suspected of helping Moscow “prepare an airstrike” against its region of Cherniguiv (north), bordering Russia. Arrested in the city from Cherniguiv, capital of this territory, the young girl was recruited by Russian military intelligence (GUR) and had the task of locating air defense complexes and radars defending the region against Russian attacks, said the SBU in a press release.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, kyiv and Moscow have both repeatedly announced they have arrested compatriots accused of spying for the other side. But the arrest of a minor suspect is extremely rare in Ukraine.

According to the SBU, the teenager “ordered a taxi in which she traveled around the region” to “secretly” photograph information on these sites and obtain their geolocation and transmitted her information to her “superior” within the GUR via “a anonymous messaging chat”. “The military counterintelligence service of the SBU” arrested the girl “red-handed while she was taking photos of a military installation,” said the SBU, specifying that it had seized a cell phone with “evidence of subversive activities in favor of Russia”.

The SBU released photos of a smartphone screen with these alleged exchanges in which one person asks another in Russian for information about military vehicles. “Take three photos from different angles in daylight. Don’t forget geotagging,” another message added. The second person responds by promising to complete the task “today.” The young girl is suspected of “high treason” and risks life in prison with confiscation of property, according to the SBU.

For months, the authorities have suspected Russian special services of recruiting Ukrainians to “damage” military equipment. By seeking to “create a perception” of the existence of a secret network of Ukrainians opposed to the authorities, Russia wants to “destabilize” Ukrainian society and “undermine the authority” of the State, according to Olena Berejna, reports -spokesperson of the national police. More than 200 arsons against military vehicles have been recorded since the start of the year, the spokesperson said, noting that a quarter of those arrested were minors.