A pair of Russian agents who were guiding missiles at 5 regions of Ukraine were exposed and detained.
According to the SBU and the Prosecutor General's Office, the perpetrators were a 27-year-old repeat offender, a former drug dealer from Kramatorsk, and his 34-year-old partner. The traitors adjusted the ruscist air strikes in Donetsk, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Poltava and Cherkasy Regions.
At the end of 2023, a man with multiple convictions for theft and drug possession was recruited by an FSB officer via Telegram. He was initially asked to take several photos of infrastructure facilities in the village. He received USD 200 for completing the enemy's task. In April 2024, he was offered permanent cooperation for money, and he agreed. In June, he involved his common-law wife in this activity.
The agents travelled around the regions like a ‘married couple’, collecting coordinates for Russian missile and bomb attacks and drones. In addition, during the aggressor's air strikes, they were to track the geolocation of air defences, and in the event of ‘arrivals’, to clarify their consequences.
The couple bought video surveillance devices on the Internet and installed them in certain places to track the routes of the Armed Forces and monitor the airspace near military airfields. Following this scheme, the accomplices hid the pre-prepared equipment on the road in Kramatorsk district.
When moving to different cities in Ukraine, the agents rented apartments overlooking potential targets. After settling in, they installed mobile phones with additional power supplies in the windows of the apartments, which broadcast images for the ruscists online. The suspects took videos and photos of air defence installations, hydroelectric power plants and other facilities in Donetsk, Poltava, Kyiv, Sumy and Cherkasy Regions and sent them to the curator. They received at least UAH 600,000 for their activities.
The pair were detained at their place of residence in Kramatorsk, where they returned to continue working for the enemy. The SBU also seized all mobile phones that the suspects had installed at ‘observation points’ in different regions of Ukraine.
Based on the collected evidence, the SBU investigators served the agents a notice of suspicion under Part 2 Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (high treason committed under martial law).
The offenders are in custody. They face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.