Ukraine's military counterintelligence, with the assistance of the Minister of Defense, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and the leadership of a military academy, has foiled a new Russian attempt to obtain Ukraine's latest unmanned technology developments.
As a result of the preemptive operation, the Security Service of Ukraine detained a high-value agent of Russia's military intelligence service (GRU), who had been spying at one of Ukraine's leading Ministry of Defense military academies.
According to the investigation, the Russian mole was an associate professor at the academy's research center.
Acting on instructions from the GRU, the agent copied and transmitted project documentation on the latest strike drones used by Ukraine's Defense Forces to his handler in Russia.
The official also deliberately discredited Ukrainian-made weapons systems undergoing evaluation by falsely labeling them as unpromising.
To do so, he prepared negative assessments of prototype drone and robotic systems, claiming they were unsuitable for combat use.
Ukraine's military counterintelligence documented the suspect's activities at every stage.
The SSU said it was able to use the mole to feed disinformation to Russian intelligence while preventing the transfer of classified Ukrainian defense technologies.
In the final phase of the operation, SSU officers arrested the suspect in his office as he attempted to send additional classified documents to his Russian handler.
Investigators determined that the associate professor had been recruited by Russian intelligence through an acquaintance in Russia. In exchange for carrying out espionage tasks, he reportedly expected to receive a position in a Russian administration.
During searches, investigators seized two mobile phones and computer equipment allegedly used for covert communications with the GRU.
The suspect has been charged with high treason committed under martial law under Article 111, Part 2 of Ukraine's Criminal Code.
He has been placed in pre-trial detention without the possibility of bail and faces a potential sentence of life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The operation was carried out jointly by investigators from the SSU's Odessa regional office under the procedural supervision of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office.
