In the Odesa region, the SSU Counterintelligence has detained an agent of russia’s federal security service. He turned out to be a former Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman who had been recruited by the enemy; he left the service in 2005 and settled in the port city.

After the war began, the suspect contacted his former subordinate, who now commands a battalion in a separate russian motorised rifle brigade fighting in the Pokrovsk sector.

During their conversation, he offered the russian his assistance in directing their missile and drone strikes against the regional capital.

The enemy battalion commander reported to the FSB that he had established contact with his former superior, and the russian service began ‘developing’ the traitor.

Following the recruitment, the agent was tasked with tracking the locations of Ukrainian troops and defence enterprises, against which the ruscists were preparing air strikes.

As the investigation revealed, the enemy’s priority ‘targets’ were the air defence units protecting the Odesa region.

The aggressor state was also interested in the coordinates of local companies involved in fulfilling defence contracts, particularly those manufacturing drones.

To obtain intelligence, the agent utilised his professional expertise and extensive network of contacts amongst former and serving military personnel, from whom he discreetly elicited the information he required.

Upon receiving the geolocation data of defence facilities, the agent conducted further reconnaissance in the vicinity using his vehicle.

For the russian intelligence, the asset also tracked the movements of seagoing vessels in coastal waters and their schedules for calling at the port of Odesa.

The SSU identified the perpetrator at the very start of his espionage activities and took action to protect the locations of Ukrainian facilities.

After the agent’s crimes had been documented, he was arrested at his home. During the search, a smartphone, which he had used to gather intelligence and maintain contact with the FSB, was seized.

SSU investigators notified him of his status as a suspect under Article 111.2 of the CCU (high treason, committed under martial law).

The suspect is in custody without bail and faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The operation was carried out by the SSU Office in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, in cooperation with investigators from the SSU Odesa Office, under the procedural supervision of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office.