The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has documented the crimes of Russian military intelligence officer Artem Shmul, a Russian citizen who recruited Ukrainian children to carry out acts of sabotage and terrorist attacks in Odesa.
SBU officers exposed four of his agents in May 2024 while they were attempting to set fire to two military vehicles in Odesa, Ukrinform reports, citing the SBU.
The investigation established that the orders of the Russian intelligence officer were carried out by a group of teenagers aged 13 to 18 whom he had recruited. Shmul came into contact with them while they were searching Telegram channels for easy money. In exchange for promises of quick earnings, the children agreed to set fire to Ukrainian forces' vehicles and Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways) facilities in Odesa.
It was established that acting on instructions from Russia's GRU military intelligence service, the teenagers destroyed a National Guard truck and a relay cabinet on a railway line.
They also recorded the fires on their phone cameras to report back to Shmul, with whom they communicated via messaging apps.
