Two 15-year-olds, a boy and a girl, have been detained for planting explosives near police stations in Kharkiv, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
On 8 December, an explosion occurred near the Sloboda district police station, followed by another near the Kholodnohirsk police station on 9 December. Fortunately, no one was injured in either attack.
The teenagers were recruited through a Telegram advertisement promising “quick and easy money.” Acting separately, the boy assembled the explosive devices under the remote guidance of “supervisors”, believed to be Russian intelligence agents, who communicated via video without activating their cameras. The girl retrieved the ready-made devices from a cache.
Both suspects placed the explosives in garbage containers near police stations and installed covertly positioned phones aimed at the buildings to enable remote detonation and record the aftermath.
Law enforcement first detained the girl, while the boy attempted to flee to Kyiv on instructions from his handlers. He was arrested in the capital.
The minors have been charged under Part 2, Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (terrorist act) and remain in custody without the possibility of bail.
- Authorities suspect the attacks were orchestrated by the Russian secret service. Similar incidents have been reported elsewhere, including a recent explosion near a Territorial recruiting centre in Dnipro that claimed one life.