Two explosions rocked the western Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk on Tuesday, March 11, in what Ukrainian intelligence reports were unwitting suicide bomb attacks carried out by teenagers.
Teenagers, 15 and 17, had been recruited by Russian special services.
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According to reports from the National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Telegram, the two boys, both locals, had been college students and friends.
The National Police stated that the teens had found a job offer posted on a Telegram channel, which led them to an anonymous recruiter. The teens reportedly agreed to take the job, then received instructions and money to rent an apartment near the train station in Ivano-Frankivsk.
“In exchange for promised payment from the occupiers, they followed instructions from a Russian handler and created a homemade explosive device disguised as thermoses,” the SBU reported.
The teenagers were instructed to place the bombs at designated locations, with a promised reward of $1,700 for completing their tasks.
The explosives were fitted with remote detonators and packed with shrapnel, including metal nuts. On the evening of March 11, as the teens transported their thermoses to their target, Russian special services – tracking them via GPS – detonated them.
Initial Telegram reports suggested the blasts had occurred at the railway station, but Ukrzaliznytsia later clarified that the explosion had happened near the station but not at the station.
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The 17-year-old suspect was killed instantly. His 15-year-old accomplice sustained serious injuries and was hospitalized. The blast also injured two passersby, a 20-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman, who were also hospitalized, the SBU stated.
Shortly afterward, another explosion occurred, this time in the teenagers’ rented apartment, triggering a fire.
The surviving 15-year-old has been charged with aiding and abetting a terrorist attack and the illegal manufacture of explosives. Authorities are also investigating the role of two 15-year-old girls who had associated with the suspects during the attack’s preparation.
The SBU warned that Russian intelligence services have adopted a new tactic: exploiting operatives “in the dark” and then eliminating them as unwanted witnesses.
“If you or your friends are asked to ‘simply deliver a package’ to a territorial recruitment center, police station, or other administrative building, know that they are trying to kill you,” the SBU stated.
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