'Gift' from a stranger turned out to be deadly: 19-year-old Russian agent suspected of killing a marine
The suspect was promised 5,000 hryvnias for completing this task
Zhytomyr law enforcement officers detained a 19-year-old resident of Poltava region who is suspected of aiding Russian security services and of the intentional killing of a Ukrainian serviceman.
On 11 June 2026, it was reported by the Zhytomyr Regional Police, the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Security Service of Ukraine.
According to the investigation, the young man agreed to carry out a task he received via Telegram from a Russian handler.
Law enforcement established that the suspect received a parcel via a parcel terminal containing a crystalline substance, preliminarily identified as methadone. After that he purchased a bottle of strong alcohol and, without damaging the factory packaging, injected a poisonous mixture into it using a syringe.
On the night of 2 June he sent the prepared parcel by mail to the address he received from the handler, and later received the promised reward on a bank card.
The recipient turned out to be a 23-year-old marine infantryman from Zhytomyr.
According to the investigation, the serviceman met online someone posing as a girl who communicated with him through a fake account and promised to send a gift.
According to the SBU, the “girl” account was run by a convicted woman who is held in a penal colony on temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory under the control of the FSB.
It was she who contacted the serviceman and persuaded him to accept the postal delivery.
On the morning of 4 June a relative found the marine infantryman unconscious in his room.
The man was hospitalized with signs of acute poisoning from an unknown substance, but a few days later he died in hospital.
During the investigation, police seized empty alcohol bottles and a mobile phone from the victim’s residence, and also established that shortly before his condition deteriorated he had consumed alcohol received in the postal delivery.
As a result of joint work by criminal police operatives and SBU officers, the perpetrator of the crime was identified. He was detained at his place of residence in Poltava region.
Investigators notified him of suspicion of intentional murder for mercenary motives, committed by prior conspiracy of a group of persons (points 6, 12 of part 2 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, the suspect was promised 5 thousand hryvnias for carrying out this task.
A decision on a preventive measure is currently being made. The article’s penalty provides for punishment of from 10 to 15 years imprisonment or life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
Earlier we wrote:
- Russia recruits Ukrainian girls via Telegram to kill servicemen: police sound the alarm
- A 17-year-old girl poisoned a serviceman on orders from Russia: police detained the suspect
- The SBU detained an agent of Russia who was preparing an assassination attempt on the commander of Azov
- Russia recruits Ukrainian teenagers via Telegram for sabotage, — SBU
- The SBU warns about a new recruitment scheme via fake online acquaintances
