Russian special services actively recruit teenagers for terrorist acts with explosives.

According to the spokesperson of the Security Service of Ukraine Artem Dehtyarenko, about 22% of the people recruited by the Russian special services for their criminal activities in Ukraine are minors. They were used to carry out sabotage and terrorist acts. According to statistics, 55% of the offenders are unemployed individuals. Russian special services have massively begun recruiting minors for organizing explosives since the beginning of 2025.

The youngest perpetrators of Russian crimes were 13-year-old teenagers, whom the SBU uncovered for setting fire to relay cabinets of Ukrzaliznytsia. In 2025, the SBU and the National Police uncovered over 50 minors who participated in terrorist acts, car arsons, and relay cabinets on behalf of Russia. One example is a case in Ivano-Frankivsk, where two minors, aged 15 and 17, were recruited by Russian special services via Telegram. The teenagers were given instructions to create improvised explosives disguised as thermoses. However, the special services activated the explosives using GPS in their package, resulting in one teenager's death and the amputation of the other's legs. It is noted that it is important to be aware that the offer to simply move a package to any building may be an assassination attempt.