"Easy money" ended in pre-trial detention: a young man was leaking the consequences of strikes on Kyiv to the enemy

18-year-old native of Cherkasy region was detained on suspicion of working for Russian intelligence services during the massive attack on Kyiv 24 May 2026. This was reported by Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.

According to the investigation, on the day of the attack the young man recorded the aftermath of Russian strikes, transmitted information about the hits and helped the enemy adjust further attacks.

The suspect was detained near one of the Ministry of Defense facilities in the capital. His phone, it is reported, contained correspondence with handlers, geolocations, photos and videos of the consequences of the shelling.

According to the investigation, in mid-May the young man was looking for a side job through Telegram. At first he was supposedly given a “regular” task — to photograph goods in competitors’ stores. Then, as a “test,” he was instructed to film the area and mark on maps the movement of military equipment in the suburbs.

Already 24 May, during the massive attack on Kyiv, the handlers provided him with specific addresses where he was to document the aftermath of the strikes.

From the correspondence, according to Ruslan Kravchenko, it is clear that representatives of the Russian Federation coordinated the performer’s actions in real time: they monitored movements via geolocation, demanded photos from different angles and clarified the results of the hits.

One of the handlers, according to published data, reassured the performer that he would pay regardless of the outcome.

“Don’t be disappointed if anything… I’ll pay you anyway whether there was something there or not”.

After identifying damage to a neighboring building, the handler gave a new filming assignment.

“Film that too. But first the building. Maybe they mixed them up”.

The 18-year-old suspect was notified of suspicion of state treason under martial law. The court imposed a preventive measure — detention without the right to post bail.

Comprehensive measures were carried out under the coordination of the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office, the SBU and the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Ruslan Kravchenko separately stressed that Russian intelligence services increasingly look for operatives among young people — via Telegram, promises “easy earnings”, simple tasks and manipulation with the phrase “it’s just a photo”.

He emphasized that such actions are not a side job, but complicity in directing Russian strikes at Ukrainian cities. For state treason under martial law, penalties range from 15 years’ imprisonment to life imprisonment.

Previously we wrote:

• Russia hunts children in messengers: in Mykolaiv a 15-year-old lyceum student stopped a dangerous scheme
• They lived nearby: Mykolaiv residents spied on the Armed Forces of Ukraine and guided missiles at their neighbors
• A horrific terrorist attack in Mykolaiv was carried out by child FSB agents: the shocking truth
• Russians propose to commit a crime? — Stop it via the SBU chatbot
• The enemy recruits teenagers for sabotage: two young men detained in Mykolaiv region