The military counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine has neutralized a spy ring of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) that was coordinating Russian air strikes on defense infrastructure in Southern Ukraine.
According to Ukrinform, the SSU reported the news.
“As a result of a multi-stage special operation in the Odesa region, four members of the enemy group were detained along with the resident (leader) of the group,” the statement said.
The suspects were providing the FSB with the coordinates of Ukrainian military weapons, ammunition, and equipment storage facilities, as well as searching for the geolocation of Ukrainian Air Defense units to coordinate Russian attacks and bypass Ukrainian anti-aircraft systems.
The investigation revealed that the spy ring’s resident of the Russian agency was a security guard at a local martial arts school. To recruit the man remotely, the invaders used his acquaintance from Crimea, who cooperates with the Russian special services and is close to former MP of the Party of Regions Igor Morkov.
Following FSB instructions, the spy ring’s resident formed his group of informants, which included his friends: a sports coach, a taxi driver, and his wife, a saleswoman at a local store.
To carry out their hostile mission, the group members spied on the movement of military and civilian cargo vehicles in the sector of probable logistics centers of the Defense Forces.
In addition, the suspects gathered intelligence from residents, including visitors to the sports school, taxi customers, and store shoppers, during casual conversations.
The agents passed the collected data to the spy ring’s resident during personal meetings or by telephone, using code words for secrecy.
SSU officers foiled the Russian agents at the beginning of their intelligence activities, documented their actions, and detained them all.
SSU investigators informed the suspects of the charges against them under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 111 (high treason committed by a group of persons acting in conspiracy under martial law); Part 2 of Article 114-2 (dissemination of information about the movement or location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or other military formations established under the laws of Ukraine).
The perpetrators are in custody without the right to bail. They face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
As reported by Ukrinform, the SSU foiled a Russian spy ring in Zaporizhzhia, which was coordinated by a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Photo: SSU
Source: SSU dismantles Russian spy ring plotting missile strike in Odesa region
