Ukrainian soldiers lured by FSB on dating apps, SBU foils 50 plots

Since the start of the year, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has disrupted more than 50 assassination attempts by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) aimed at Ukrainian soldiers. The plots used fake profiles on online dating platforms to arrange romantic meetings that turned into traps with improvised explosive devices, poisoned food or drinks, and armed attackers.

Specific cases include a March arrest in the Kharkiv region of an FSB operative who posed as a volunteer and delivered a poisoned meal, and another incident where a female agent sent a bottle containing a lethal dose of the opioid metadone to a soldier during an online date. In January, authorities in Zaporizhzhia detained an FSB agent who tried to stab a soldier after luring him to an industrial zone, with a woman using a fake account facilitating the lure. The investigations are proceeding under Ukraine’s treason, premeditated murder, and terrorist‑act statutes, with convicted perpetrators facing life imprisonment and confiscation of assets.