17-Year-Old Detained After Methadone Parcels Killed Two Soldiers
Police in Zhytomyr say the teen mailed lethal doses to troops recruited via Telegram, preventing four additional deaths.
By Alexander Novak ·
Ukrainian police detained a 17-year-old girl in Zhytomyr on Friday for her role in a scheme that killed two soldiers.
Investigators said the suspect acted on instructions from a Russian handler and was promised at least 5,000 hryvnias, or about $111, for the work. She contacted service members through the messaging app Telegram and mailed them parcels described as free drugs. The statement noted the soldiers were instructed to take the medication on camera without realizing the capsules contained a lethal dose of methadone.
Two soldiers in the Zhytomyr region died from the poisoning. Police said they identified other recipients of the packages, an effort that prevented four more murders across the country. The teen faces charges of aiding and abetting premeditated murder as part of a prior conspiracy, as well as shipping drugs and psychotropic substances for distribution. She could receive up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
Police warned that Russia aims to kill citizens and destabilize the situation within the country. They urged the public not to accept medication, food, or drinks of dubious origin from people they do not know well. Ukrainian and Russian forces have accused each other throughout the war of recruiting minors for sabotage acts, including poisonings. Authorities have opened thousands of investigations into collaboration with the enemy and regularly arrest individuals accused of working for Moscow.
Previous poisoning allegations have emerged during the conflict. In 2023, Ukraine accused Russia of poisoning the wife of Kyrylo Budanov, then head of military intelligence and now a presidential adviser. Several personnel from the GUR intelligence service were diagnosed with the same poisoning. That year, Paris prosecutors also opened an investigation into the poisoning of a Russian journalist who had displayed an anti-war slogan on state television.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the British tabloid The Sun that he has survived no fewer than five or six assassination attempts since the invasion began.
Source: CBS News
