A criminal court on Tuesday sentenced a Russian military intelligence agent to 15 years in prison for collecting information about the locations of Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) assets and personnel in the Chernihiv region.
On the same day, counterintelligence officers from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a release that they have detained a Russian agent in Kharkiv as he was setting up a tripwire with a hand grenade in a city park there.
Investigators say that the operation was carried out by a 62-year-old Kharkiv resident recruited by Russian occupiers through his wife, who reportedly lives in Moscow and works for Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s successor agency to the KGB.
SBU investigators allege that the agent received coordinates of a package from Russian handlers, retrieved an explosive device from it, and later bought thin fishing line at a local market to attach to the F-1 grenade’s safety pin.
The goal of the attack, SBU investigators contend, was to cause panic among Kharkiv residents by detonating the explosive in a crowded area.
The security service also presented evidence the agent planned to carry out another FSB task after setting up the tripwire: He was to assemble a homemade bomb using plastic explosives and a liquid detonator, which he planned to hide in downtown Kharkiv for remote detonation by Russian intelligence officers during rush hour.
During searches at the suspect’s residence, investigators seized a button phone used to set off explosives, a radio set, a smartphone, and a tablet containing evidence of his contacts with the enemy.
Also on Tuesday, a criminal court sentenced a Russian spy to 15 years for sending Moscow sensitive information about troops and assets in the northern Chernihiv region.
“Based on the evidence collected by the Security Service, a Russian military intelligence agent (better known as the GRU) received 15 years in prison with confiscation of property for spying in the Chernihiv region at the beginning of 2025,” an SBU statement said.
Prosecutors said he scouted the area, recorded the locations of defending forces, and then sent the coordinates to Russian GRU handlers via a messenger app. Russia’s military intelligence was said to have recruited a border-area resident who was looking for easy money in Telegram channels.
Moscow was most interested in the locations of command and observation posts and the movement routes of border patrols, the security service said, as well as the locations of checkpoints and logistics warehouses of Ukrainian troops.
Consequently, Russian forces used his information to plan routes for their sabotage and reconnaissance groups to move outside the positions of Ukrainian troops.
During their search, officers seized the smartphone the agent used to communicate with his handlers.