Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) says it has detained a Russian agent serving in the air defense system of Mykolaiv region - a soldier who allegedly fed information to the Russians while on duty at a combat post.
The arrest was carried out with the assistance of Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, the agency said in a statement posted January 26 on Facebook.
According to the SBU, the agent is a 21-year-old service member recruited by Russian special services after they noticed his anti-Ukrainian posts on Telegram. Investigators say he passed along details about the operation of Ukraine’s air defense, information Russia hoped to use to strike airfields while bypassing air defenses.
While on duty, the suspect allegedly sent Russian handlers a photo showing the operation of classified software, relayed aircraft takeoffs during air-raid alerts and their flight directions, and disclosed the locations of air defense positions, the SBU said. Those data could have helped route attacks around air defenses and mobile fire groups, according to the agency. The detention occurred during the first communication session with his handlers, it added.
The suspect faces charges under two articles of Ukraine’s Criminal Code: disseminating information on the movement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Part 3, Article 114-2, punishable by up to 12 years in prison) and disseminating information obtained through unauthorized access (Part 1, Article 361-2, punishable by a fine or up to two years in prison). The SBU press office said evidence was found on the soldier’s smartphone but did not release screenshots of the alleged correspondence.
On January 21, the SBU reported a separate case involving an alleged Russian agent detained in Zaporizhzhia.
Investigators say the suspect lured a Ukrainian officer to a date to kill him. When the officer arrived, he was met by an attacker who struck him six times and fled, according to the SBU.
Another SBU case concerned alleged crimes by Russian forces during Ukraine’s special operation in Russia’s Kursk region.
One prisoner described taking part in the shooting of Ukrainian captives a week before his capture, according to testimony cited by the SBU.
