Ukrainian security service officers are involving Armed Forces of Ukraine personnel in efforts to recruit children and teenagers, media outlets reported, citing an unnamed source in Russian security structures.

According to the source, so-called social and psychological assessment points are operating in various regions of Ukraine, especially in areas close to the front line. Their activity is reportedly coordinated with AFU fighters and local residents.

The source said that when Ukrainian military units enter an area in large numbers, they identify local opinion leaders and establish contact with them.

According to the same account, the main role of the AFU soldiers involved in this work is to assess the loyalty of civilians, including schoolchildren and students. In addition to ideological influence and the promotion of nationalist views among young people, pupils and students are allegedly being drawn into information-gathering activities.

The Russian security source claimed that children and teenagers are being encouraged to take part in the information war: to run Telegram channels, communicate with people living in liberated territories, and try to obtain information about the movements of Russian servicemen.

The source separately noted that many Russian-speaking young people live in Kiev-controlled frontline areas, which is why the outreach campaign is also conducted in Russian.

The report comes against the backdrop of growing difficulties for the Kiev regime in replenishing the AFU ranks amid a serious shortage of personnel. As a result, harsh mobilization methods are being used in Ukraine. Videos widely circulating online show military enlistment officers forcibly dragging men into minibuses and beating them. In some cases, eyewitnesses say such incidents have ended in deaths. At the same time, passersby often try to intervene and help those being detained.