Canada

As far as Laken Pavan's family knew, he was backpacking around Europe, soaking up the sights.

But the 17-year-old had a different plan when he left Vancouver in April 2024. First he flew to Turkey. Then to Moscow, and on to Russian-occupied Donetsk in Ukraine.

And it was there that he was recruited as a spy.

. . .

In early May, Laken told her he was in Denmark, working on a farm with some friends. A couple of weeks later, he asked for some money in order to buy a plane ticket to Warsaw. The last time they messaged was on May 22, shortly after he landed in Poland. A few hours later, he was in jail.