The military counterintelligence unit of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has prevented a series of Russian missile and drone attacks on fuel and lubricant storage facilities in southern Ukraine.
As a result of a pre-emptive operation, a Russian agent was detained in Odessa after installing GPS trackers on fuel tankers. Russian intelligence services intended to use the devices to track where the vehicles were refuelled and thereby identify the coordinates of fuel depots in the region.
Investigators documented that the suspect had attached at least two tracking devices, which could be accessed remotely by Russian intelligence officers, to a military fuel tanker and a civilian fuel truck.
Once the coordinates had been obtained, Russian forces planned to launch large-scale strikes on the fuel storage facilities. Such attacks could have disrupted the logistics of Ukraine's Defence Forces and destabilised the situation in the region.
SSU officers uncovered the plan in advance, removed the tracking devices and detained the agent.
The investigation established that the suspect was a 20-year-old former student at an Odessa university who had been working part-time as a loader at a postal branch.
He came to the attention of Russian intelligence services while searching for "easy money" on Telegram channels after being expelled from university for poor academic performance.
After agreeing to cooperate with Russian intelligence, the suspect initially documented the aftermath of Russian attacks on Odessa.
To conceal his reconnaissance activities, he regularly changed his means of travel, using minibuses or travelling on foot.
He was subsequently instructed to identify Ukrainian fuel depots so that Russian jet-powered drones and missiles could be directed towards them.
Following instructions from his Russian handler, the suspect purchased GPS trackers, configured them according to the handler's recommendations and installed them on fuel tankers.
During searches, officers seized a smartphone containing evidence of his cooperation with Russian intelligence.
SSU investigators notified the suspect that he was being charged under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (high treason committed under martial law). The suspect remains in custody without the possibility of bail. He faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
