Eighty percent of minors agree to illegal actions for financial gain
Russia is using social networks and messengers to recruit Ukrainian children for sabotage missions. Criminals manipulate teenagers with promises of quick money and blackmail. This is reported by the portal PromPolitInform, citing the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.
The enemy is actively exploiting digital platforms to find vulnerable teenagers outside of occupied territories. Recruiters often initiate contact via popular online games or entertainment content, gradually gathering personal information about the child and their psychological state.
Methods of influence on minors
At the initial stage, perpetrators offer children easy money, valuable gifts, or the execution of supposedly simple tasks. If financial incentives are insufficient, recruiters shift to methods of psychological pressure, including threats, blatant intimidation, or blackmail to maintain control over the child.
According to the Slidstvo.Info investigation, the vast majority—80%—of minors who collaborated with the enemy were motivated by financial gain. As a result, Ukrainian teenagers find themselves facing criminal charges for carrying out illegal activities that pose a threat to others.
Recommendations for parents
Adults should conduct awareness campaigns regarding online safety, strictly forbidding the sharing of personal data or family information. It is necessary to monitor behavioral changes in children and the emergence of “new friends” offering bizarre tasks or gifts, which is often a sign of external interference.
If signs of recruitment are detected, one should immediately report it to the National Police by calling 102 or via the Cyberpolice feedback form. The use of children in armed conflicts is a direct violation of international humanitarian law; therefore, any child exploited by an aggressor for illegal actions must be viewed first and foremost as a victim of a crime.
Photo: Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights
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