The Second Western District Military Court handed down a verdict to a 16-year-old resident of the town of Liski. The teenager will spend seven years in a juvenile correctional facility and will also pay a fine for preparing to blow up the car of a Russian serviceman.

Investigators established that the minor was carrying out tasks for the Ukrainian special services. The handlers transferred the reward for surveillance and collecting information in cryptocurrency. The criminal case vividly illustrates how digital assets help wrongdoers remotely recruit teenagers.

Want more exclusive news and analytics? Subscribe to our telegram channel, discuss the news and share your thoughts about the market's future developments in the chat!

How the cryptocurrency was used

Investigators of the Investigative Committee for the Voronezh region clarified the details of the case. In May 2025 the young man contacted representatives of the Ukrainian special services via a messenger. In the course of communication he agreed, for money, to report information about troop movements. In May and June 2025 the youth secretly tracked a vehicle in Voronezh. He regularly photographed the target and sent reports to his employers.

For collecting data the handlers sent the boy digital coins several times. The total amount of the payments was at least $370. The choice of virtual currency for cross-border settlements is entirely logical. Such transfers bypass Russian banks, conceal the sender's details, and are harder to block.

The arrest and the criminal charges

The wrongdoer failed to complete the planned crime. The youth managed to retrieve explosives and a ready-made improvised device from a cache in Liski, but at that very moment he was intercepted by operatives of the regional FSB directorate. The special services' materials formed the basis of the criminal case. The court found the defendant guilty of preparing a terrorist act as part of an organized group and of the illegal trafficking of explosive devices via the internet.

Source: BeInCrypto