SBU counter-intelligence has thwarted the registration of a large batch of Starlink satellite terminals for the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, the occupiers planned to use the devices to prepare combat operations in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
This is reported by the Security Service of Ukraine.
The task for the Russian special service was carried out by an 18-year-old former student at a capital city college. He came to the FSB’s attention when, after training as an electric welder, he was looking for quick money in Telegram channels. There, a representative of the Russian special service contacted him and offered paid co-operation.
A few days after being recruited, the young man registered 15 Starlink terminals, using the passport details of relatives and acquaintances. He later prepared false personal details to register a further 133 devices.
SBU counter-intelligence officers documented the agent’s activities and detained him near a post office, where he planned to activate a new batch of terminals. Law enforcement officers also blocked the previously registered Starlink terminals, the details of which the detainee had passed to his handler in Russia via a messenger app.
During searches, several smartphones were seized from him containing evidence of co-operation with the enemy.
SBU investigators have served the detainee with a notice of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – high treason committed under martial law.
He is currently being held in custody without the right to post bail. Under the article he is charged with, he faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The comprehensive measures were carried out by officers of the SBU Main Directorate in Kyiv and Kyiv Region, under the procedural supervision of the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office.