The UK has opened cases on the involvement of teenagers in sabotage through a dating chatbot

The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened criminal cases into the involvement of young people in sabotage and terrorist activities using the popular chatbot "Diver/Leo" in the Telegram messenger. This was announced on July 29 by the official representative of the Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko.

According to the agency, in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Rostov, Saratov, Sverdlovsk regions, Altai Territory and the Chuvash Republic, 19 young people aged 14 to 18 years old were detained who were involved in crimes by the Ukrainian special services. In St. Petersburg, 15 criminal cases of arson of vehicles, administrative buildings and fuel dispensers committed by minors from May 2025 to May 2026 are combined into one production.

"Ukrainian special services use schemes to meet young people under the guise of girls, send phishing links, ask them to send location information, and then, under the guise of law enforcement officers, use threats and intimidation to incite them to commit crimes. The investigation identifies specific employees of the special services of Ukraine involved in recruitment," the report says.

The investigative bodies of the Investigative Committee of Russia have initiated criminal cases on the facts of crimes committed under Articles 205 of the Criminal Code ("Terrorist act"), Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code ("Assistance to terrorist activities"), Article 281 of the Criminal Code ("Sabotage"), Article 150 of the Criminal Code ("Involvement of a minor in the commission of a crime167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Intentional destruction or damage of property").

The issue of blocking the resource has been initiated. The UK urged parents to monitor their children's leisure time, and minors to be vigilant and report suspicious contacts.

A frivolous relationship: how scammers use the topic of marriage agencies

The attackers promise an individual selection of ideal partners

On June 8, employees of the Department for combating the illegal use of information and communication technologies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia published an example of a scheme by which criminals recruit teenagers, intimidate them and isolate them from their loved ones. The scheme consists of three stages. In particular, at the first stage ("Bait"), a teenager meets a girl in a messenger, social network or on a dating site, who in the course of confidential communication asks to send a short video or geolocation.