SBU: Deserter recruited by the FSB returned to the armed forces to spy in southern Ukraine

In the Mykolaiv region the Security Service of Ukraine detained a serviceman suspected of collaborating with the FSB and coordinating Russian strikes against the south of Ukraine. According to the investigation, after leaving his unit without authorization the man was recruited by the Russian special service, and later he returned to the military to carry out agent tasks. The SBU press service reported this on 7 September 2026.

According to the security service, the detainee is a locally mobilized conscript who served in one of the artillery brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Law enforcement says he passed information to the enemy that Russian forces could use for missile-and-drone attacks on Defense Forces units in the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions. The investigation found that the soldier came to the FSB’s attention after he left his military unit without authorization and began looking for “easy earnings” on Telegram.

After being recruited, according to the SBU, the man returned to service. There he was to secretly collect information about the locations of logistics depots and concentrations of military equipment. The Russian special service was also allegedly interested in the personal data of commanders of Armed Forces units participating in combat operations in the southern direction.

The authorities say the suspect stored the collected information as Google Maps screenshots with marked Ukrainian sites. He communicated with his handler — an officer of the FSB’s military counterintelligence — via an anonymous chat in a messenger.

SBU cyber specialists documented the soldier’s contacts with the Russian special service and his intelligence activities. The man was detained directly at his place of service. During a search, law enforcement seized a smartphone which, according to the SBU, contains evidence of collaboration with the FSB. Measures were also taken to protect Ukrainian military personnel in the area where the suspect operated.

The detainee was notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — state treason committed under martial law. He is currently held without the right to post bail. If found guilty, the man faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

Previously we wrote:

• Searched for air defenses that Russia could strike with missiles: FSB agent from Mykolaiv sentenced to 15 years
• A Mykolaiv resident who adjusted Russia’s missile-and-drone strikes was sentenced to 10 years
• Directed strikes on Mykolaiv and Odesa: another FSB agent to be jailed
• “He would say it at random, and then it would hit”: Russian spies exposed in Mykolaiv
• Experienced criminal in the FSB’s service: how a convict directed airstrikes on Mykolaiv