Man detained in Odesa region for attempting to buy secret military developments

SBU counterintelligence officers detained a representative of a private company in Odesa who offered a bribe to obtain classified documentation on aviation developments.

This was reported by the SBU press service.

According to the special service, it was classified information on the modernization of onboard equipment of combat aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In order to obtain technical documentation and drawings of the relevant developments, the offender offered a bribe to an engineer at a local plant that carries out research and development work on behalf of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

The SBU officers documented the actions of the entrepreneur and detained him while he was handing over the bribe to the defense enterprise official.

The detainee was served a notice of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (giving an unlawful benefit to an official).

The offender faces up to 8 years in prison with confiscation of property.

"The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the crime. Among other things, work is underway to find out the motives for obtaining certified documents in the field of defense industry of Ukraine," the SBU said.

In May, Russia, through its agent, was already hunting for new developments for the Armed Forces. However, the security forces managed to expose and detain the spy at an enterprise in Odesa region. From the first day, he sought access to drawings and production schemes, hiding behind engineering work and gaining the trust of his colleagues. It was also established that the agent also served as a corrector. To help the Russians "bypass" the air defense system of Odesa region, he traveled around the region and tried to identify air defense positions and radar stations.

Before that, the SBU exposed two engineers in Mykolaiv region who tried to transfer secret developments of a defense plant and important military data to Russia.

Кирило Бойко