He Was Looking for a Relationship on Telegram but Became a Russian Agent: “Mole” Among Paratroopers Arrested in Mykolaiv

In Mykolaiv, a serviceman recruited by Russia’s FSB to prepare a missile strike on Ukrainian airborne troops has been exposed. According to the SBU, he was supposed to provide the coordinates of a headquarters where the commander of one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Air Assault Forces brigades was staying. The serviceman was detained before he could guide an enemy missile to the site. The Security Service of Ukraine reported this on November 12, 2026.

The operation was carried out by the SBU’s military counterintelligence in cooperation with the Defence Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate and with the assistance of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to the security service, the detainee had been mobilized and served as a driver in one of the units. Investigators established that the man came to the attention of Russian intelligence services while seeking romantic relationships in Telegram dating channels. After being recruited, he began communicating with his FSB handler through an anonymous chat in a messaging app.

Taking advantage of his position as a driver, the agent gathered information about the locations of the brigade’s command. His main task was to transmit, in real time, the coordinates of a military facility where a colonel — the commander of an air assault formation — was expected to be. The Russians planned to launch a missile strike on the headquarters using this information. In addition, according to the SBU, the serviceman passed the enemy information about locations where Ukrainian Armed Forces attack drones are stored and launched, which are used to strike Russian forces’ rear-area facilities.

Counterintelligence officers detained the suspect right on the premises of the military unit. By then, he was already preparing to send his handler the coordinates of the site where the brigade commander was expected to be. Before the detention, the SBU also took measures to protect the locations of Ukrainian airborne troops. When the serviceman was detained, officers seized his smartphone containing messages and reports for the Russian intelligence officer which, according to investigators, confirm preparations for an assassination attempt on a Ukrainian Armed Forces combat officer.

SBU investigators notified the detainee that he was suspected of Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — high treason committed under martial law. He is being held in custody without the right to bail. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The coordinated measures were carried out by SBU officers in Mykolaiv region under the procedural supervision of the Mykolaiv Specialized Prosecutor’s Office in the Field of Defence of the Southern Region.

We previously reported:

• They spied on Mykolaiv’s defence forces and guided enemy missiles — sentenced to 15 years in prison
• SBU detains FSB agent who directed strikes on Mykolaiv
• Mykolaiv resident to stand trial for treason: he passed on information about the Ukrainian Armed Forces
• An observer in a high-rise: how a lecturer directed Russian strikes
• 10 years in prison for treason: FSB recruited a Mykolaiv resident to spy on military personnel