Zhytomyr teen sent lethal methadone to troops
Police say the 17-year-old mailed poisoned capsules to six soldiers, killing two.
By Priya Marino ·
A 17-year-old woman in Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, was detained on Friday after Ukrainian police accused her of mailing lethal doses of methadone to Ukrainian soldiers. Authorities stated the suspect acted on orders from a Russian handler and received at least 5,000 hryvnias, roughly $111, for her role in the scheme.
The investigation revealed that the teen contacted service members through the messaging platform Telegram. She sent them parcels labeled as free drugs and instructed the recipients to consume the contents while recording themselves on camera. Police noted that the soldiers did not know the capsules contained a fatal amount of methadone.
Two soldiers in the Zhytomyr region died from the poisoning. Investigators identified four other individuals who received the packages, a move credited with preventing four additional deaths across the country. The suspect faces charges for aiding and abetting premeditated murder as part of a prior conspiracy. She is also charged with shipping drugs and psychotropic substances for distribution.
If found guilty, the teen faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years. Ukrainian authorities have not released her name. Police said the operation was part of a wider effort to disrupt Russian security services, which they claim aim to kill Ukrainian personnel and destabilize the domestic situation.
In a public warning, police urged citizens to avoid accepting medication, food, or drinks from strangers. They emphasized the need for caution regarding substances of dubious origin. The case adds to a series of incidents since the war began in 2022, during which both Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of using minors for sabotage.
Ukrainian officials have opened thousands of investigations into suspected collaboration with Moscow. Previous poisoning cases include the 2023 incident involving the wife of Kyrylo Budanov, then head of military intelligence. In a separate 2023 case, Paris prosecutors investigated the poisoning of a Russian journalist. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently told The Sun that he has survived at least five or six assassination attempts since the invasion.
