The Security Service of Ukraine has exposed and detained a local resident who was collecting information about the locations of Ukrainian Defense Forces in Odesa and the Odesa region, the SSU reported on Tuesday.
“The suspect is a local resident who came to the attention of the FSB due to his own posts supporting the regime and Russian armed formations in Telegram channels, and who tracked the locations of Defense Forces bases,” the statement posted on Telegram says.
According to the case materials, the suspect reported to the Russian forces the firing positions of air defense systems and the locations of Ukrainian Armed Forces logistics warehouses in southern Ukraine, as well as information about a local council deputy and a National Guard serviceman he personally knew, identifying them as potential targets for elimination.
To conduct surveillance and collect information, the suspect drove around the area by car, after which he reported to his Russian handler via messenger and then deleted the correspondence.
The suspect also attempted to provoke panic among local residents and destabilize the situation in the city and region by initiating the transfer of firearms.
During searches, three smartphones containing evidence of cooperation with the FSB were seized.
He has been formally charged under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 2 of Article 111 (high treason committed under martial law); Parts 1 and 2 of Article 110 (encroachment on territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine); Parts 2 and 3 of Article 109 (public calls for violent overthrow of the constitutional order or seizure of state power, as well as dissemination of materials calling for such actions); and Parts 2 and 3 of Article 436-2 (justification, recognition as lawful, denial of armed aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants).
He is currently being held in custody without bail.
He faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
