The Russians are recruiting Ukrainian teenagers for sabotage not only in Ukraine but also in Europe. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a large number of shopping malls, warehouses, submarine cables and railways have been damaged in the EU over the past two years. Many of these sabotages are linked to attempts by Russian military intelligence to sow chaos.
Points of attention
- Russia is recruiting Ukrainian teenagers for sabotage operations in Europe, aiming to create chaos and sow distrust.
- The number of Russian sabotage attacks in Europe has significantly increased, posing serious security threats to the region.
- Young individuals like 17-year-old Danylo Bardadym are being lured into carrying out sabotage actions by Russian special services, leading to arrests and terrorism charges.
Russia is carrying out sabotage in Europe with the help of Ukrainian teenagers
One of the Ukrainian teenagers recruited by the Russian Federation was 17-year-old Danylo Bardadym, who left Ukraine for Poland because of the war.
In early 2024, he was tasked with setting fire to an IKEA store, promising a BMW and about $11,000 in cash in return. He ended up getting a used car, but no money. Law enforcement quickly caught up with the teenager, which landed him in prison in Lithuania on a slew of terrorism charges.
The publication shared that the number of covert Russian sabotage operations in Europe nearly tripled from 2023 to 2024. This has European leaders concerned that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is part of a broader offensive.
We have already entered the zone of military operations in Europe. Their (Russians — ed.) goal is to create chaos, sow distrust and panic, and undermine public support for aid to Ukraine. Welcome to World War III, — the publication quoted the former director of the Lithuanian State Security Department, Darius Jauniškis, as saying.
Journalists said that the crime of which Bardadym was accused took place in May 2024. Then, in the middle of the night, an incendiary device planted in an IKEA store in Vilnius exploded. Later, police stopped the bus on which he was traveling from Lithuania to neighboring Latvia and arrested him. Among the teenager's belongings, incendiary devices were found, which, according to investigators, were to be used in another arson in Riga.
The investigation showed that Bardadym used storage rooms at the Vilnius train station to store a bag with explosives, six mobile phones, four detonators, and two vibrators, the purpose of which is unclear, the publication shared.
Lithuanian investigators believe that people involved in Russian sabotage in Europe are mostly motivated by money. Chief Prosecutor Arturas Urbelis assured that the Russians are looking for inexperienced young people who have found themselves in difficult financial situations due to the war in Ukraine.
Lithuanian investigators also found out that Russians are recruiting people using the Telegram messenger and its Chinese counterpart Zengi.
The most potentially dangerous sabotage operations used incendiary devices disguised as innocent packages. For example, in July 2024, a package sent from Vilnius to Germany by DHL caught fire in a processing center in Leipzig, the publication recalled.
