The Security Service of Ukraine’s (SSU) counterintelligence unit has neutralised an agent network of Russian military intelligence, better known as the GRU, in the Kharkiv region. As a result of a special operation coordinated personally by SSU Major General Oleksandr Poklad, four members of the group were detained. They are accused of directing Russian strikes on the region and monitoring Ukrainian military personnel, law enforcement officers and judges.
At the request of Russian intelligence, the suspects also hid in a safe house in Kharkiv a man convicted of justifying Russia’s armed aggression.
The investigation established that members of the network included the head of the security department of a mobile communications company and one of his subordinates.
Acting on instructions from the Russian intelligence service, they collected personal data on members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, law enforcement officers and members of the Ukrainian judiciary.
The SSU documented how Russian intelligence tasked the agents with gathering information about a prosecutor and judges involved in criminal proceedings against the propagandist whom the suspects were hiding.
To do this, they used their access to the mobile operator’s software, which allowed them to obtain data on subscribers’ phone connections and geolocation.
The third member of the agent network was an employee of a local defence company. Acting on Russian instructions, she rented an apartment to Ukrainian servicemen and, without revealing her intentions, tried to obtain information from them about the locations of military units and their movement routes. She also allegedly helped direct Russian strikes against the defence company where she worked.
Another alleged agent was a Kharkiv resident who travelled around the city and surrounding areas with the two employees of the mobile operator’s security department in their company vehicle. During these trips, he used a smartwatch to record defence facilities, including reserve command posts, fortifications and Ukrainian military checkpoints.
SSU counterintelligence officers said they acted pre-emptively and identified the entire agent network in advance. After documenting the group’s activities, they detained all of its members.
According to the investigation, the suspects were recruited by Russia through an acquaintance from Kharkiv who had moved to Russia before the start of the full-scale war and began working for Russian military intelligence as a liaison.
SSU investigators have notified all four detainees that they are suspected of high treason committed under martial law under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The suspects are being held in custody. If convicted, they face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
