Kyiv — Along Ukraine’s highways, billboards from the country’s state security service, the SBU, warn people that Russia uses Telegram and other messaging apps to recruit civilians to work for the Kremlin.
The SBU’s key message to the public is this: Russia’s FSB security service and GRU military intelligence “will impersonate anyone to turn you into a traitor.” These recruitment efforts have resulted in Ukrainians — sometimes unwittingly, sometimes not — carrying out acts of sabotage against their country.
“The FSB and GRU are recruiting Ukrainians to sign up Starlinks for the Russian army, honey trap Ukrainian soldiers, recruit assassins, find Ukrainians who will provide coordinates for attacks, and spread Russian propaganda and disinformation,” Taras Kuzio, a professor of political science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, told Independence Avenue Media.
The recruitment campaign’s chief effect, Kuzio argues, is psychological. “These attacks are problematic because they increase anxiety that Ukraine will lose the war, lower morale and increase the number of Ukrainians seeking a peace deal at any expense to Ukraine,” he said.
In August, according to Ukrainian authorities, a 69-year-old Ukrainian man from Kharkiv was fed AI-generated images portraying a Ukrainian commander as a Russian collaborator. His Russian handler then arranged for him to receive a pistol, which he attempted to use to assassinate the commander. The weapon, authorities said, failed to fire and he was unable to carry out the attack.
‘The Foundation is Poverty’
But frequently this level of manipulation is not necessary.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, speaking to university students in June, suggested that Russian intelligence recruitment is driven largely by money rather than ideology. “The foundation is poverty,” he said, adding that Ukrainian officials called recruits “$300 people” because $300 was a standard recruitment price. “If $300 is a lot for someone, [there’s] nothing you can do. Someone will always take the money.”
In March 2025, two teenagers in Ivano-Frankivsk were recruited on Telegram with promises of easy money. They planted a bomb on instructions from their handler — one was killed while the other was injured.
“Recent trends show that Russian handlers are increasingly detonating explosives while the recruited individual is still with the target,” retired Ukrainian defense intelligence colonel Vitalii Ostapchuk told Independence Avenue Media. “For the FSB, this accomplishes two objectives: carrying out the attack and eliminating the witness without paying them.”
“Most recruits are teenagers, socially marginalized individuals, people suffering from gambling or drug addiction, or those facing severe financial difficulties,” Ostapchuk said. “In 90% of cases, the Russians do not pay the promised amount or provide only a small cryptocurrency advance, after which they block the recruit’s account or detonate explosives that kill the agent.”
In August, the SBU also said it had uncovered a wide-ranging network collecting intelligence on Ukrainian military aviation. A Lviv resident who ran an aviation Telegram channel was allegedly recruited by Russian military intelligence and then enlisted 13 followers to photograph airfields, aircraft and personnel, while also recording takeoff and landing times. The SBU said the intelligence could help Russia target airfields operating F-16 and Mirage 2000 fighter jets.
That same month, another man from the Rivne region was arrested by the SBU. He caught the attention of Russian intelligence by posting anti-Ukrainian comments on Telegram. After being recruited, he helped identify locations of Ukrainian military bases. Eventually he asked for weapons to help kill Ukrainian soldiers.
“They target young people and people who may not fully understand what they are getting involved in,” Alina Holovko, a Dnipro resident and humanitarian worker, tells Independence Avenue Media. “It is almost like a quest or game, where these people can easily be manipulated through promises of money.”
There have been multiple cases where Russia has successfully used children to conduct unwitting suicide bombings. Ukraine’s police in August said more than 260 Ukrainian children reached out to law enforcement, helping flag recruitment efforts where they were being asked to carry out terrorist attacks.
The police say that nine out of 10 cases involve financial incentives. Online job boards are an easy place to find potential recruits, lured by promises of easy money. Officials say the Kremlin considers these ‘one-time agents‘ effective — and their use has continued to grow.
“Russia exploits a wider range of vulnerabilities which have intersections across poverty, fear, resentment, addiction, online anonymity and the realities of a Ukrainian society under incredible stress,” Ed Bogan, a former CIA officer, told Independence Avenue Media.
A Game Both Sides Play
Ukraine has played its own role in encouraging acts of sabotage.
Early in the conflict, elderly Russians were manipulated into firebombing military enlistment offices — in schemes Russian authorities and independent media have partly attributed to Ukrainian operatives. And at least 240 minors have been detained on terrorism or sabotage charges in Russia since the full-scale invasion, according to a 2026 Mediazona investigation.
“Ukrainian intelligence effectively cooperates with individuals willing to resist Putin’s regime, whether for financial or ideological reasons,” said Ostapchuk, the former Ukrainian intelligence officer.
In more than 200 cases, Russian authorities claimed the teenagers were motivated by money, with many finding offers to burn railway infrastructure or military equipment while searching for easy work online. Some of the cases have been attributed to Ukrainian intelligence, although determining who was behind anonymous online recruitment can be difficult.
Both sides have weaponized dating apps: Ukrainian operatives have run a Telegram dating bot for recruitment, while Ukraine’s national police chief, Ivan Vyhivskyi, said in June that Russia has sometimes used underage girls to meet soldiers and poison them with methadone.
Deniability by Design
Russia’s operations have also appeared beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Because people can be recruited anonymously, it is frequently difficult for governments to explicitly blame Russia. It’s also one reason Russia recruits Ukrainian citizens to carry out attacks across international borders in Europe. Even if Russian security services are found to be responsible, popular anger is likely directed at the Ukrainian perpetrators.
Bogan said Russia tolerates a far higher fatality rate among its civilian recruits than its adversaries do, including Ukraine. A strategy of easily disposing of agents gives the Kremlin wide latitude in choosing recruits. Some of their targets may think they are simply carrying out paid errands.
“The Russians don’t need every agent to be reliable or ideologically aligned,” said Bogan.
Countermeasures, say analysts, have been integrated into law enforcement strategy. Ostapchuk believes that authorities should also widely publicize actual criminal sentences.
“A person who sets fire to a vehicle or plants explosives for $500 can receive anywhere from 10-15 years in prison to a life sentence under charges such as treason or sabotage,” he said.
Others say that the state can’t be the only one responsible. “It should not only be the responsibility of the state, but also of parents and teachers who can influence their children and students, so that vulnerable or unaware people cannot be manipulated or coerced into carrying out terrorist acts against our country,” said Holovko, the Dnipro humanitarian worker. “There is outreach to the public, but this is something that needs to happen within every family.”
