Teen girl accused of helping Russia kill Ukrainian soldiers with poison

October 23, 2026 / 6:58 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

Ukrainian police said Friday they had detained a 17-year-old girl suspected of helping Russia's security services to poison Ukrainian soldiers and that two had died.

Ukraine and Russia have throughout their war since 2022 accused each other of recruiting minors for sabotage acts including poisoning.

The girl, who was not named, is suspected of having packaged deadly drugs and sending them to Ukrainian soldiers she contacted by Telegram, police said in a statement.

She was arrested by police in Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, after allegedly following instructions from a Russian handler in exchange for at least 5,000 hryvnias ($111), they said.

After receiving packages with "free drugs," the soldiers were "instructed to take them on camera," the statement said.

"The recipients did not know that the capsules contained a lethal dose of methadone," it said, adding that "two soldiers died from poisoning in the Zhytomyr region."

Police said they had identified other recipients of the packages, which "prevented four more murders" across the country.

"The young woman was notified that she is suspected of aiding and abetting the premeditated murder of two people as part of a prior conspiracy," the police…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/