Ukrainian Intelligence Agents Arrest Multiple Russian Spies Across the Country

Ukrainian counter-intelligence operatives of the SSU have detained two more alleged Russian agents in the Donetsk Region, both of whom are believed to have been spying on the combat positions of Ukrainian troops near the eastern front.

One of the alleged agents was detained on Saturday, July 9, near the city of Kramatorsk, which came to international attention in June after a busy shopping mall was struck by Russian missiles. The SSU have stated that the man, who has not been named, was a “local resident recruited by a Russian FSB operative.”

“According to the inquiry, the asset had been gathering intelligence on the location of army units and infrastructure facilities across the region,” the SSU said in an official statement. “He transmitted the coordinates to the aggressor through clandestine communication channels. The occupiers used this information to prepare mass rocket artillery attacks on Kramatorsk.”

The culprit remains in custody, with the court yet to rule on his fate, pending an inquiry.

Another suspect was detained in Bakhmut on the same day, with the SSU stating on Telegram that: “He spotted the enemy strikes at the city. To this end, he created a special platform in Telegram, where he published for the aggressor the location and data on the movement of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.”

The raids took place in the early hours of the morning, and follow a spate of similar arrests across Ukraine.

A further alleged Russian asset was arrested in the Dnipropetrovsk Region on Friday, July 8, and stands accused of spying on the location of air defense systems behind the southern and eastern fronts.

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On Telegram, the SSU also highlighted their suspicion a propagandist of the Russian television and radio company VGTRK. Evgeniy Poddubnyi, they claim, is “a confidant of Russian highest military and political leadership, he illegally entered Ukraine during the temporary occupation of Hostomel and Borodyanka and carried out fake reporting. There, according to the kremlin’s ‘guidelines’, the propagandist prepared the commissioned stories to support armed aggression against Ukraine, spread disinformation about the situation at the front, and justify the invaders’ crimes.”

A proposed international arrest warrant for Poddubnyi is currently pending, the SSU reports.

Meanwhile, In the southern port city of Odesa, the SSU report that they have disrupted an organization illegally facilitating the movement of Ukrainian men of call-up age across the border, out of Ukraine.

At the current time, Ukrainian law dictates that Ukrainian men eligible to fight in the ongoing war are not allowed to leave the country without special permission.

The organizers of the ‘smuggling scheme’, including an official from the district office of the State Migration Service, are believed to have charged Ukrainian men up to $6,000 to transport them out of Ukraine, and were detained on Thursday, July 7.

In Kyiv, the SSU have now submitted criminal proceedings against two officials of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry – both charged with alleged treason. In June, the Ukrainian counterintelligence claimed that the pair of officials were in cooperation with the FSB.

It has also now been reported by the SSU that a resident of Mykolaiv, who is alleged to have collected intelligence on the deployment and movement of Ukrainian Armed Forces in the region, and on critical infrastructure and defense facilities near the Black Sea coast, was detained on an undisclosed date at the end of June. The alleged Russian asset planned to provide the intelligence to help the Russian forces carry out missile strikes on the cities and to execute acts of sabotage in southern Ukraine. The alleged spy sent the information directly to his Russian supervisors or through a FSB ‘liaison’, the SSU claim, going on to state that an investigation had revealed that the alleged liaison was a local man who was recruited by the FSB and has been living in the temporarily occupied Donetsk Region since 2014.

The suspect was found to have been using an anonymous Telegram channel for communication, and during a search of his home, law enforcement agents discovered an arsenal of explosives, firearms, ammunition, and paraphernalia containing Russian symbols.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February, 2022, the SSU has launched over 3,000 criminal proceedings against alleged Russian agents seeking to undermine the national security of Ukraine.