Security Service says it has thwarted more than 50 plots targeting Ukrainian soldiers through fake dates this year

Since the beginning of 2026, the Security Service of Ukraine has thwarted more than 50 attempts by Russian secret services to kill Ukrainian service members through online dating and staged romantic encounters.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)

Details: According to the SBU, Russian secret services are increasingly using so-called "honey traps". Ukrainian service members are contacted from fake accounts on dating websites and themed chat groups, offered romantic relationships, and then invited to pre-arranged meeting locations.

At these locations, Ukrainian soldiers may be met with improvised explosive devices, poison, or armed attackers.

The SBU said that in March 2025, officers in Kharkiv Oblast detained an FSB agent who, posing as a volunteer, delivered poisoned food and medication to a Ukrainian service member.

In another case, a Russian agent sent a soldier a bottle of drink laced with a lethal dose of methadone. She suggested they drink it together during an online date. SBU officers intercepted the parcel, and forensic analysis confirmed the presence of toxic substances.

The SBU also reported that in January 2026, an FSB agent who attempted to stab a Ukrainian service member to death was arrested in Zaporizhzhia.

According to the investigation, the soldier had been invited to what he believed was a date with a woman he had met on a dating website, at a location in an industrial area. Instead, a man wearing a balaclava arrived, attacked him from behind, and stabbed him six times.

SBU officers detained the attacker and also identified the woman who had been communicating with the victim through a fake account and had lured him to the location of the attempted murder.

The investigations are being conducted under articles covering treason, premeditated murder, and a terrorist act. The suspects face life imprisonment with confiscation of property if convicted.

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