Russia has been luring financially struggling Ukrainian minors with money to carry out sabotage against public facilities in Ukraine, the U.S. newspaper The Washington Post reported on September 20 (local time).

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, more than 300 teenagers have been detained across Ukraine in connection with cases linked to Russia.

Among them, 13 have been sentenced to prison terms and are currently serving time.

Some have received probation, while others remain under investigation.

Oleksii Babakov, 17, who is currently serving a prison sentence, was investigated and found to have participated in the crimes after seeing a Telegram advertisement while staying in Poland that promised easy money.

He had been living in a foster family in Vovchansk, a Russian-occupied border area in Ukraine, before being sent to Poland.

Babakov received instructions from Russian handlers to recruit other teenagers.

One of the targets for recruitment was his friend Vikentii, 17. The two had become close while living together at a cadet corps in Kharkiv Oblast, eastern Ukraine, in 2022.

Vikentii accepted the offer after hearing he could earn $3,000 (approx. 4.15 million won) a month.

Vikentii stated that he initially thought he only needed to make explosive devices, but later learned that he had to personally place the explosives at designated locations.

At the time, Vikentii was only 15 years old.

He committed the crime by leaving an explosive device in a trash can outside a police station in Kharkiv Oblast.

"When I detonated the bomb, I realized I had done a really bad thing," Vikentii said. "Afterwards, I felt relieved when I heard the news that no one was hurt."

Ukrainian authorities tracked down and apprehended Babakov, the recruiter, in Poland.

Vikentii, who planted the explosive device, was sentenced to three years in prison on terrorism charges, while Babakov was sentenced to four years for inciting and supporting a terrorist attack.

The two are currently serving their sentences in the same detention facility.

Yevhen Pikalov, Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Justice, said, "These teenagers did not commit crimes out of a motivation to betray their country or destroy Ukraine. They did not love Russia; they did so to make money."

Previously, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stated in a report released last year that there had been a significant increase in credible allegations that Russia was using Ukrainian teenagers for sabotage.

According to the report, Russia had some Ukrainian youths monitor Ukrainian military facilities and transmit information.

They were also made to commit sabotage and arson targeting public assets associated with the Ukrainian military.

However, Russian authorities have completely denied the allegations.

Instead, they claim that Ukrainian intelligence agencies have recruited Russian minors to carry out sabotage inside Russia.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)