The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it “neutralized” an espionage network and detained five former and serving Ukrainian intelligence officers spying for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
According to an SBU press release, all five officers were tasked by the Kremlin with transferring information on Ukrainian forces and energy facilities to Russia and worked with an FSB curator based in occupied Crimea.
Among them are former officials of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (HUR) and the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (SZRU), as well as an employee of the regional SBU department.
The HUR agent leaked the personal data of Ukrainian soldiers, and the SBU employee leaked information on fortifications along Odesa’s Black Sea coastline.
The SZRU agent was recruited by the FSB before the full-scale invasion and tasked with collecting information on Ukrainian military installations. After the invasion began, he was then tasked with identifying foreign weapons shipments in Ukraine.
Instead of communicating electronically, the agent passed the intel to Russia through an accomplice disguised as a volunteer who traveled abroad and personally reported to Russian intelligence.
The agent also relayed information about the “peculiarities of the work and protection systems” of the Rivne and Khmelnytsky nuclear power plants in western Ukraine to Russia, according to the SBU.
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The FSB reportedly threatened to kill the agents’ families during the recruitment process. However, the SBU said the agents also received funds from Russia for completing each task.
All five agents were charged with treason and remained in custody.
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