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Podcast Episode #216 - A Canadian Teen Recruited to Spy for Russia with Laken Pavan

Canadian teenager Laken Pavan was arrested and imprisoned in Poland on espionage charges in May 2024.

Laken joined the Canadian Armed Forces’ Bold Eagle cadet program at age 16 and was trained as a combat engineer. But he soon felt unfulfilled with his military service and schooling and decided to go overseas to gain some new life experience.

On April 15th, 2024, Laken asked to be excused from English class to go to the restroom and instead walked outside to begin a voyage to Ukraine. He took a ferry to Vancouver, flew by himself to Istanbul, and then on to Moscow. From there he traveled to Donetsk and joined a volunteer group called Interbrigade.

After Interbrigade members realized he was only 17 years old, they planned to send him back home as soon as possible. He mostly spent the next few days in limbo but was detained by Russian FSB agents who’d learned of his presence. Over the course of a week, they interrogated him and then recruited him for operations in Europe.

Laken traveled first to Copenhagen, Denmark. He communicated with his handler known as “Slon” via the Telegram app and the Instagram account @astridjenson.dnk and received small payments in Bitcoin for his expenses. He was told to report any and all interesting connections with foreigners in the city, such as US military personnel on vacation. The initial plan was for him to reenter Ukraine and join a militia unit, while reporting back to the FSB.

After a short period in Denmark, he moved to Warsaw, Poland, where he believed it would be easier to withdraw Bitcoin. But shortly after arriving he drunkenly confessed to a hotel worker and then to police that he was in Poland as a spy. He was immediately arrested, several weeks before his 18th birthday.

Laken was convicted and sentenced to 20 months in prison. He spent his 18th and 19th birthdays in prison. In mid-August 2025 he was released and deported back to Vancouver.

For episode 217 of the Spycraft 101 podcast I spoke to Laken about his journey to Ukraine, his recruitment by the FSB, his time in prison in Poland, and putting his life back together afterwards.

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