The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) neutralized another FSB agent group operating in Dnipropetrovs’k region. The criminals were collecting information for Russian air strikes on military and critical infrastructure facilities in the region. One of the main targets was the enterprises producing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
In addition, the Russian special services were interested in the location of repair bases for Ukrainian military equipment and key highways used to transport weapons and ammunition to the front line.
To obtain the coordinates, the FSB remotely recruited six local residents through a Telegram channel they created, where they were looking for supporters of racism. The agents worked separately from each other in different localities in the region, but reported to a single FSB supervisor.
On the instructions of their supervisor, they monitored the movement of columns and echelons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and also paid attention to the accumulation of military equipment that had arrived from the front for maintenance. To identify the locations of UAV production facilities, the agents used their personal connections among local residents, asking for the necessary information.
SBU CI officers documented the actions of all members of the agent group in stages and detained them. During the searches, the SBU found 16 mobile phones, laptops and tablets containing evidence of their communication with the Russian special service.
The detainees were notified of being suspected of high treason under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, committed under martial law. They are being held without bail and face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The head of the FSB agent group, who is currently in Russia, has also been identified.