Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said Tuesday it detained an engineer at a defense plant in central Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region for allegedly spying for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and military intelligence (GRU).
The SBU, in a press release, said the engineer was tasked with relaying intelligence on defense orders at his plant, which he had planned to do via his access to state secrets and physical access to factory workshops.
According to the SBU, the suspect was recruited by Russian intelligence via his son, who is currently imprisoned in Russia on drug-related charges. The suspect allegedly agreed to cooperate in exchange for “promises of amnesty” for his son.
“In exchange for promises of amnesty for the prisoner, the agent was to collect and pass on to the enemy secret information about the fulfillment of the defense order,” the SBU wrote.
“To do this, the defendant planned to use his access to state secrets and actual access to special workshops of the plant,” it added.
The suspect also tried to secure locations of “high-tech premises and the production zone of the enterprise,” which could have been used to aid the Kremlin in strikes against Ukraine, according to the SBU.
The man is also said to have been instructed to recruit other agents from his workplace on behalf of Russian intelligence.
The SBU documented the suspect’s activities and detained him at the defense plant. Law enforcement officers also seized electronic devices containing evidence of communication with Russian intelligence.
The man has been charged under Part 2 of Article 111 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, which pertains to high treason committed under martial law.
If convicted, the suspect will face life imprisonment and is being held without bail, the SBU said.
In late March, the SBU also said it dismantled a spy network tasked with contract killings of Ukrainian commanders and public figures.