The SSU’s Military Counterintelligence and investigators, with the assistance of the command of a National Guard of Ukraine special forces unit, detained an agent of Russian military intelligence, better known as the GRU, in Odessa region.
According to the investigation, the suspect is an officer and commander of a National Guard special forces group who allegedly passed classified information about his unit’s combat operations on the frontline and behind Russian lines to Russian intelligence.
Investigators established that the officer allegedly provided Russia’s GRU with classified information from the National Guard’s restricted information system.
To do so, he reportedly gave Russian intelligence officers his personal login credentials for his account on the agency’s internal online platform.
In this way, Russian intelligence sought to gain remote access to classified information concerning the planning, preparation and conduct of combat operations, as well as procedures for managing personnel within the special forces unit.
However, according to the SSU, the suspect’s activities were detected at an early stage, and the agency documented his actions.
After taking additional measures to protect the secrecy of Defence Forces operations, SSU officers detained the alleged agent at his residence in Odessa.
The investigation also established that, acting on instructions from Russia’s GRU, the suspect allegedly set fire to a military vehicle in the port city and filmed the blaze on his phone.
According to operational information, the suspect was subsequently expected to manufacture an improvised explosive device and hand it over to a “courier” to carry out a terrorist attack in southern Ukraine.
During searches, officers seized a smartphone, laptop and other data storage devices allegedly containing evidence of his cooperation with Russian military intelligence.
The suspect is being held in custody without the right to bail. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
