Counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine has detained an agent of Russian military intelligence (better known as the GRU) in Zakarpattia region. He turned out to be an employee of a local factory who had been recruited by the Russian forces to spy on enterprises carrying out defense contracts in western Ukraine.
According to the case materials, the agent tracked the addresses of such companies and also gathered intelligence on the types and volumes of their production.
In addition, the suspect compiled a “file” on employees of these facilities, including their personal data and details about working schedules.
According to available information, Russian military intelligence planned to use the collected data to prepare air strikes on Ukraine’s defense industry factories and to carry out terrorist attacks against company officials, including design engineers.
To complete the task, the agent covertly extracted intelligence from former colleagues who currently work at various Ukrainian defense enterprises.
During conversations, he typically acted under the pretext of “sharing advanced experience” and showed professional interest, particularly in the latest defense industry developments and the specialists involved.
Investigators found that the collected information was transmitted by the suspect to Russian military intelligence via his father, who lives in Kaliningrad and cooperates with Russian intelligence services.
He was later supposed to get a job at another defense enterprise in order to gather further information for the aggressor state.
In addition, during targeted Russian strikes based on coordinates provided by the agent, his GRU handlers promised to extract him in advance from the potential strike zone. For this, he expected to receive coded signals via messenger apps.
SSU counterintelligence acted preemptively and prevented the Russian “mole” from being employed at another defense enterprise. At the same time, the locations of Ukraine’s defense facilities were secured.
At the final stage of the operation, the agent was detained at his place of residence. During the search, mobile phones containing evidence of cooperation with the Russian forces were found.
Weapons and ammunition were also seized, and their origin is currently being investigated.
Investigators have charged him under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (high treason committed under martial law). The offender faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
