Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said it prevented a Russian plot to assassinate the commander of the Third Army Corps of the Defense Forces, Brig. Gen. Andriy Biletsky, detaining a suspected agent who was preparing to help direct a missile and aerial strike.
The SBU said on Friday, March 13, that the suspect had been recruited by Russian intelligence to gather information about Biletsky’s movements and potential location in the combat zone.
Biletsky is also a politician, who was a member of the Verkhovna Rada from 2014 to 2019 and founded the right-wing National Corps political party in 2015.
According to investigators, the agent was a drone operator from another brigade deployed in the Kharkiv region. Russian handlers tasked him with collecting intelligence about the time and place the Ukrainian commander might visit frontline positions.
To obtain the information, the suspect used access to internal military data and attempted to discreetly obtain classified details from fellow servicemen, the SBU said.
Investigators said the agent was also tasked with providing Russia with the locations of his brigade’s headquarters and training center so that Russian forces could launch separate attacks on those facilities.
Ukrainian counterintelligence officers uncovered the operation at an early stage, documented the suspect’s contacts with Russian handlers and secured the threatened military locations, the SBU said.
Agent detained during special operation
The suspect was detained during the final phase of the operation inside a military garrison. Investigators seized a smartphone allegedly used to communicate with Russian intelligence services.
According to the SBU, the man had been recruited through his ex-wife, who lives in Russian-occupied territory in the Zaporizhzhia region and works for Russia.
To conceal the contacts, he regularly deleted messages exchanged with his handlers, investigators said.
The suspect has been charged with high treason committed under martial law, a crime punishable by life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
He remains in custody as the investigation continues.