Teen faces 15-year sentence after mailing lethal methadone to six soldiers

Ukrainian police detained a 17-year-old girl in Zhytomyr on Friday, charging her with premeditated murder in a scheme that killed two soldiers. The suspect, who has not been named publicly, faces up to 15 years in prison if a court finds her guilty.

Investigators say the teenager acted under the direction of a Russian security handler. She was promised at least 5,000 hryvnias, roughly $111, for her role in the operation. The payment structure suggests a transactional arrangement rather than a long-term employment relationship.

The plan relied on deception. The suspect contacted soldiers through the messaging app Telegram and mailed them parcels labeled as free drugs. Police noted that the recipients were instructed to consume the contents on camera to verify receipt. The capsules contained a lethal dose of methadone, a medication typically used to treat opioid dependence.

Two soldiers in the Zhytomyr region died after ingesting the poison. Investigators identified additional recipients of the packages, a move they credit with preventing four other deaths across the country. Those individuals are currently being processed as part of the ongoing inquiry.

Beyond the murder charge, the 17-year-old is suspected of aiding and abetting a prior conspiracy to commit premeditated murder. She also faces charges for shipping drugs and psychotropic substances for distribution. These specific legal counts determine the maximum penalty she could receive.

Ukrainian authorities have warned the public to be cautious with substances or food from unfamiliar sources. They stated that Russia aims to destabilize the country by killing its people. This incident adds to a list of poisoning cases that have emerged since the war began in 2022.

Both Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of using minors for sabotage tasks. Ukrainian police have opened thousands of investigations into alleged collaboration with Moscow. In related cases from 2023, officials linked poisonings to the family of Kyrylo Budanov, the former head of military intelligence, and to a Russian journalist in Paris.