An FSB agent who directed Russian strikes was detained in Kherson

The Security Service of Ukraine detained an FSB agent in Kherson who, according to the investigation, was passing on the coordinates of Ukrainian military personnel to Russian intelligence services and helping to direct artillery and missile strikes against the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

According to the SBU, the detainee is a native of the South Caucasus who had been living in Ukraine since the 1990s using a forged passport. To cover up his activities, he headed one of the local civic organizations.

According to the security service, the man came to the attention of the FSB during the temporary occupation of Kherson, where he met an employee of the Russian intelligence service. After the city was liberated, the agent was left in territory controlled by Ukraine in a so-called “standby mode.”

Subsequently, an FSB operational group operating from the temporarily occupied left bank of the Kherson region reestablished contact with him. On the orders of his handlers, he gathered information about the bases and combat positions of the Ukrainian military.

According to the SBU, the agent elicited the necessary information from acquaintances and personally verified potential targets to later transmit their coordinates to the Russian side.

Law enforcement officials also established that, in his correspondence with his handler, the man repeatedly expressed hope for the reoccupation of Kherson by Russian troops.

SBU officers documented the suspect’s activities and detained him at his residence. During a search, they seized forged documents and cell phones containing evidence of his collaboration with the FSB.

The suspect was notified of charges under Part 3 of Article 114-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—the unauthorized dissemination of information regarding the deployment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under martial law.

He is currently being held in custody without the right to bail. If found guilty, he faces up to 12 years in prison.

Андрій Колісніченко