Ukraine’s Security Service (SSU) thwarted the escape of an FSB agent operating in Odesa. The suspect coordinated strikes by Russian forces on the city and recruited members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the Russian intelligence service.
The agent was detained just before her planned departure to the EU, from where she intended to reach Russia. She already had bus tickets prepared.
According to the case files, the agent working for Russian forces is a 52-year-old associate professor at a local university. She came under Russian intelligence scrutiny after calling for the seizure of Odesa region on the banned social network VKontakte.
In exchange for cooperation, Russian forces promised her a position as a lecturer in the Department of Russian Literature at a Moscow university.
One of her main tasks in Ukraine was identifying temporary deployment points of Ukrainian defense forces in Odesa. Russian forces were particularly interested in operational airfields with combat helicopters and weapons and ammunition depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
To gather intelligence, the agent tried to gain the trust of Ukrainian soldiers living nearby. She was later tasked with recruiting them into her own network of informants, through which the FSB planned to spy on defenders of the southern region from the inside.
SSU officers foiled Russian forces’ plans and arrested the agent. During searches, authorities seized her smartphone and tablet containing prepared “reports” for the FSB.
Investigators charged the suspect under Part 2, Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (state treason committed under martial law).
She is in custody and faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
