Ukraine’s honey trap: How AI ‘lover’ and poisoned beer nearly killed Russian defence officer

The officer reportedly told Russian media that the plot began months earlier, after he met a woman named Polina on a dating platform. Their communication later shifted to Telegram, where she frequently sent him photos and videos to build trust.

"She sent me photos and videos from the gym several times, all roughly the same. After a few months of our communication, she said she wanted to give me a gift, which she would deliver through a friend," he said.

The man who delivered the package, now under arrest, had allegedly been directed by Ukraine’s military intelligence, the GUR, and promised $5,000 to hand over two bottles of British beer.

FSB investigators argue that Polina never existed, describing the profile as a product of artificial intelligence designed to manipulate the target into accepting the poisoned package.

The agency cited forensic analysis of the seized bottles, "Based on the results of the tests on the confiscated bottles, it was established that the beer contained a mixture of highly toxic poisons, colchicine and tert-butyl bicyclophosphate (an analogue of the military-grade nerve agent VX, banned by the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention), produced in Britain, which, when consumed, causes an agonising death within 20 minutes," the FSB stated.

The delivery was interrupted by security personnel moments after the exchange. The arrested intermediary later recounted being confronted and told the true nature of the package, "I was ordered to carefully place the package on the ground. After which they explained to me that the bag contained beer, which contained a military-grade poison intended to eliminate me, and that Polina's account was used by Ukrainian intelligence officers," he said.