Russian informant among military exposed in Mykolaiv region

The SBU Military Counterintelligence with the support of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine exposed another informer of Russian special services in Mykolaiv region. The detainee was a 21-year-old serviceman of one of the air defense units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who was recruited by the enemy.

This was reported by the SBU press service.

The investigation found that the suspect passed information to the Russian side about the work of the Ukrainian air defense system near operational airfields. In particular, during air alerts, he took pictures of monitors with closed software on his phone while on combat duty.

In addition, the defendant informed the occupiers about the flight routes of the AFU aviation and the location of the combat positions of air defense units. The Russian troops planned to use the obtained data to attack the airfields of the Defense Forces, bypassing radar equipment and mobile fire groups.

The SBU officers documented the criminal activity in time and detained the informant immediately after the first contact with Russian representatives. At the same time, measures were taken to enhance the security of the Ukrainian military positions.

According to the investigation, the man came to the attention of Russian special services through pro-Kremlin posts in Telegram channels. During the searches, a smartphone with evidence of cooperation with the enemy was seized from him.

The suspect was served a notice of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - for the illegal dissemination of information about the movement and deployment of the Armed Forces under martial law, as well as for the unauthorized sale and distribution of restricted data. He faces up to 12 years in prison.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. Procedural guidance is provided by the Mykolaiv Specialized Defense Prosecutor's Office of the Southern Region.

Last year, the SBU CI prevented an attempt on the life of an officer of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. He came to Ukraine posing as a tourist and initially settled in Mykolaiv region.

Анна Бальчінос