Ukrainian intelligence uncovers a network of agents
Multiple men should spy on targets for Russia in Ukraine. Moscow recruits them via Telegram, according to Ukraine's SBU intelligence service. Russia is interested in critical infrastructure and military positions. The men face life imprisonment.
Ukraine's intelligence service has uncovered and dismantled a Russian spy network. The Russian intelligence service recruited potential employees via a chat page on Telegram in six Ukrainian regions, the SBU announced in Kyiv. They were to relay information about critical infrastructure and military targets. The SBU monitored the spies for some time before making arrests. Nine men were detained in total.
Among those arrested were two city administrators from Dnipro and Yuzhne in the Odessa region. They were recruited because they were active as "commentators" in pro-Kremlin chats. Their handler in the Russian FSB was also identified.
The agents, according to the SBU, were preparing for Russian rocket, bomb, and drone attacks in six regions. In a multi-stage special operation, nine Russian agents were simultaneously arrested in Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and the Donetsk, Odessa, and Kirovohrad regions. They acted independently but were connected to an FSB officer identified by the SBU. The Russian intelligence officer instructed them to gather coordinates for attacks on defense forces and critical infrastructure.
Spying on heavy artillery
The two arrested officials were locating the positions of air defense systems and important power stations to facilitate Russian shelling in both regions.
Two other agents were exploring the positions of fortifications and firing positions of Ukrainian heavy artillery near Pokrovsk and Chasiv Yar. A accomplice gathered information about the concentration of personnel and military equipment of Ukrainian defenders in Kurakhove in the Donetsk region.
The Russian agents also included two managers and a university student who recorded the movements of Ukrainian army units towards the eastern front. Another agent was a former officer of the disbanded police, who reported to the Russians about the effects of the Russian attack on one of the Ukrainian hydroelectric power plants. The suspects now face life imprisonment and confiscation of their property.
The European Union expresses concern over the Russian spy networks operating within Ukraine, as this could potentially pose a threat to its neighboring countries' security. These Russian agents, including city administrators and a former police officer, were found to be spying on critical infrastructure and military positions in multiple regions of Ukraine.
