Collected data for Russian strikes on Mykolaiv: the SBU detained two agents of the Russian Federation

Counterintelligence officers and cyber specialists of the Security Service of Ukraine detained two more people in Mykolaiv region who are suspected of working for the Russian special services. According to the SBU, they acted separately but received similar tasks – collecting information that the enemy could use to prepare rocket-drone strikes on Mykolaiv.

The investigation established that both subjects were recruited by Russian special services through Telegram channels. According to the SBU, there they left anti-Ukrainian comments and expressed support for Russia.

One of the detainees turned out to be a local odd-job worker. According to the investigation, he worked for the FSB and collected information about Mykolaiv’s logistical infrastructure that the Russians could use to prepare new strikes on the city. In addition, the man tried to identify combat positions of Ukraine’s air defense, which protects the sky over the south of Ukraine.

To collect information, the SBU reported, the suspect moved around the area by bicycle and used a smartphone to record the electronic coordinates of potential “targets”. Law enforcement exposed the second suspect directly in Mykolaiv. She turned out to be an administrative employee of one of the city’s markets. According to the investigation, the woman had been cooperating with Russian military intelligence – the GRU.

The SBU found that at the behest of a Russian special service she collected information about backup command posts and checkpoints of the Defense Forces. To do this, the woman walked around Mykolaiv and its outskirts and covertly photographed military facilities with geographic references.

Furthermore, according to the investigation, the suspect attempted to obtain information needed by Russian intelligence during ordinary conversations with acquaintances and market visitors. She asked questions covertly so as not to arouse suspicion. SBU officers documented the activities of both subjects and detained them at their places of residence. At the same time, law enforcement carried out measures to protect Ukrainian objects that had come into the field of view of Russian intelligence. During searches, computer equipment and mobile phones were seized from the detainees. According to the SBU, the devices contain evidence of their cooperation with the Russian special services.

Both detainees were notified of suspicion under part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – high treason committed during martial law. If found guilty, they face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The operation was carried out by SBU officers in the Mykolaiv Oblast under the procedural guidance of the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office. According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered innocent until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court’s guilty verdict.