Almost 50 children reported to police about Russian attempts to recruit them
More and more children are reporting to the police about Russian attempts to recruit them through messengers and social media.
According to Censor.NET, citing Ukrinform, the head of the Juvenile Police of Ukraine Vasyl Bohdan said this on television.
"We are currently observing a steady trend towards an increase in the number of appeals from children about recruitment attempts. As of today, almost 50 children have reported to the National Police that they had been contacted via messengers and social media by unknown persons from fictitious accounts who were calling for arson attacks on military vehicles, government and local government buildings, civilian and critical infrastructure, and for collecting various information, for which they promised financial rewards," he said.
In addition, he reminded that the National Police Juvenile Prevention Unit, together with the SSU, is currently implementing a broad information campaign across the country to raise information and legal awareness among schoolchildren, during which they hold relevant lectures, discussions and open lessons with teenagers.
According to him, law enforcement officers pay special attention to parents and pedagogical staff, explaining to them how to recognise signs of recruitment, how to talk to children and how to act in a given situation, including in cases of possible recruitment attempts, the head of the juvenile police said.
Bohdan informed that at first, Russians may offer children easy tasks such as collecting information about the location of military facilities or posting leaflets discrediting the Ukrainian Armed Forces or containing elements of Russian propaganda, and then they may offer more difficult tasks.
Among the more serious tasks he mentioned were installing CCTV cameras, committing arsons, damaging property and organising sabotage and terrorist attacks or implementing certain components of their preparation, etc.
