On Saturday, September 12, a 16-year-old girl in Kramatorsk, Ukraine was sentenced to 6 years in prison for providing Ukrainian military intelligence after being influenced by Russian military personnel on the internet. The Ukrainian security department issued a warning to be vigilant against the Russian military’s online “honey trap.”
According to the criminal investigation information released by the Ukrainian investigative media “Slidstvo.Info” on Saturday, the Ukrainian girl convicted of treason was arrested in early January 2026.
The investigation revealed that in early September 2025, this girl was recruited by Nikita Zorin, a member of the Russian 20th composite brigade of the 3rd motorized infantry division, through a Telegram channel.
Initially, Zorin only established trust and an intimate relationship with her, showing interest in her feelings and life situations. However, the girl was eventually persuaded to follow his instructions and gather information about Ukrainian military personnel, police gathering spots, vehicles, and air defense system locations in Kramatorsk, which she transmitted through voice messages and photos.
Chat records showed that Zorin later changed his attitude and began to threaten her with physical harm. He once asked the girl to place a grenade under a car wheel and take a picture, a request she refused. Nevertheless, she continued to provide him with information.
The girl explained that she leaked the information because she claimed to have been “mistreated” by Ukrainian military personnel and wanted the Russian contact to seek revenge for her. She did not provide specific details.
It is worth mentioning that her father is also a Ukrainian military personnel.
On August 6, 2026, a Ukrainian court sentenced Zorin in absentia under Article 438, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code for recruiting and using children in armed conflicts, with a penalty ranging from 8 to 12 years in prison. Currently, Zorin’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Publicly available information on the internet indicated that the last mention of him was at the end of October 2024. A woman claiming to be Zorin’s mother posted on a Russian Telegram channel searching for him, stating that the last contact Zorin had with his family was on October 27, 2024 (his birthday).
Following that, although messages sent through Telegram and VKontakte were read, there was no reply. His status was not officially classified as missing, killed in action, or captured.
According to reports from a Ukrainian news agency on Saturday, Artem Dekhtiarenko, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Security Service, issued a warning advising Ukrainian military personnel and their families to be cautious when encountering strangers on social media, especially those who quickly gain trust or seek military information. Such contacts could be part of an enemy recruitment strategy.
He suggested not to disclose personal or military information to individuals met online, to decline gifts, food, or drinks from them, and to report recruitment attempts or suspicious proposals anonymously via the Telegram chatbot or a hotline to prevent more serious consequences. Vigilance is key.