The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported that it has uncovered an FSB intelligence operation targeting the nation’s banking sector and detained a bank employee in Odesa accused of passing sensitive data about Ukrainian military personnel to Russian intelligence.
According to the SBU, the 56-year-old cashier at a state-owned bank was secretly recruited by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and tasked with collecting personal information about Ukrainian servicemembers who were clients of the financial institution.
The FSB allegedly planned to use the data to prepare terrorist attacks, conduct information sabotage, and attempt recruitment operations against members of the Defense Forces.
Investigators say the woman first drew the attention of Russian operatives after posting anti-Ukrainian comments on pro-Kremlin Telegram channels.
Following her recruitment, she was instructed to monitor customers wearing military uniforms or showing visible signs of combat injuries during cash operations. Whenever such clients appeared, she immediately reported their details to her FSB handler.
Outside of work, the suspect also conducted reconnaissance in Odesa and surrounding areas, photographing locations where Ukrainian troops were stationed or concentrated.
SBU cyber specialists tracked her activities, collected evidence of her espionage, and ultimately arrested her.
The woman has been charged under Part 2 of Article 111 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, with high treason committed under martial law, a crime punishable by life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The operation was carried out by the SBU’s Odesa regional office under the procedural supervision of the regional prosecutor’s office.
Earlier this month Kyiv Post reported that the SBU has disrupted a suspected Russian spy network in the southern city of Mykolaiv, accusing two individuals of attempting to infiltrate one of the country’s key defense enterprises.
The SBU announced that its counterintelligence units, working jointly with the Ministry of Defense, “prevented the enemy’s attempt to penetrate one of the leading defense plants in the south.”
According to investigators, the pair, a woman and her common-law partner, were allegedly gathering classified information on Ukrainian defense industry facilities, including production sites and the status of government military contracts.