SBU Accuses Russian Officer of Recruiting Minor to Guide Strike on Power Plant

Ukraine’s security service said a Russian intelligence officer recruited a 17-year-old to help target a thermal power plant in western Ukraine. Make us preferred on Google Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied (Photo by SBU) Content Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Flip Make us preferred on Google Ukraine’s Security Service Security Service of Ukraine said on Friday, April 17, it had identified a Russian military intelligence officer accused of recruiting a minor to help gather information used to plan missile and drone strikes on critical infrastructure in western Ukraine. According to the SBU , the suspect is Marat Tsevelev, a lieutenant colonel in Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU), who allegedly coordinated preparations for attacks in the Ivano-Frankivsk region earlier this year. Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official . Investigators said the officer recruited a 17-year-old local student through messaging platforms, where she had been seeking short-term work. Under his instructions, the minor allegedly conducted reconnaissance near the Burshtyn thermal power plant and a key electrical substation to assess damage after previous strikes. She was later tasked with photographing and obtaining geographic coordinates of a Ukrainian military facility and transmitting the data via messaging apps, the SBU said. Ukrainian authorities said they detained the minor suspect earlier this year while she was photographing a military site. A mobile phone containing evidence was seized at the scene. The SBU said Tsevelev is serving in a Russian special operations unit based in occupied Sevastopol and has been notified of suspicion in absentia on espionage charges. The case against the minor has been referred to court on charges of high treason committed under martial law. Other Topics of Interest Russia Trains Teenage Influencers to Churn Out Pro-War Content At an early April content camp in Moscow, 120-plus teens in uniform learned from soldiers and state media how to make videos, use AI, and grow audiences. The investigation was conducted by SBU officers in the Ivano-Frankivsk region under the supervision of regional prosecutors. Russia has increasingly relied on detailed targeting intelligence to strike Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, combining drone surveillance, satellite imagery and human sources on the ground. Ukrainian authorities say agents and informants are often used to gather real-time data on the condition and location of key energy facilities, including power plants and substations. These inputs are then integrated into coordinated missile and drone strikes aimed at critical nodes of the power grid, maximizing damage and complicating restoration efforts. On Feb. 14, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, that all of Ukraine’s power plants have been damaged by Russian attacks , but the country’s energy system continues to function thanks to the efforts of energy workers, physical protection of facilities and support from air defense partners. Earlier on Friday, Russian drone strikes hit multiple regions of Ukraine , with Dnipro among the hardest hit. The attack damaged civil infrastructure and residential buildings, injuring several people. It follows a large-scale Russian attack overnight into Thursday that led to major casualties across multiple cities. In central Ukraine’s Dnipro, 5 people were killed and 26 were wounded. In southern Ukraine’s Odesa, 8 people were killed and 22 were wounded. In Kyiv, 4 people were killed, including a 12-year-old boy, while 45 people were wounded, with 26 hospitalized. In southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia, 1 person was killed and 10 were wounded , including a 16-year-old boy, according to emergency services. Yuliia Zavadska is a news writer at Kyiv Post. She has experience in breaking news coverage, fact-checking, and digital journalism, with a focus on fast, accurate reporting and clear storytelling. Before joining Kyiv Post, she worked as a news feed editor for several leading Ukrainian media outlets.