The Security Service of Ukraine has detained another FSB informant in Mykolaiv as a result of counter-sabotage measures. The perpetrator was collecting intelligence on the locations and movements of the Ukrainian Defense Forces within the region.
According to the investigation, the perpetrator left the country at the beginning of the full-scale invasion and actively supported the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. Subsequently, he was remotely recruited by Russian special services.
Returning to Ukraine in March of this year, he attempted to identify potential locations of military airfields with combat aviation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
It was established that he maintained remote communication with Russian special services through "liaisons." One of them turned out to be the pro-Kremlin blogger Sergei Lebedev (better known by the pseudonym "Lokhmatyi"), who is located in the temporarily occupied Donetsk and works for the FSB.
In June of this year, the SSU informed this blogger about the suspicion of state treason and neutralized the network of his informants in the Mykolaiv region.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, SSU agents have exposed 13 individuals involved in such activities.
Another accomplice of the FSB has been identified as a local resident who was an active user of the Telegram channel "Lokhmatyi." During correspondence with the hostile blogger, his "follower" supported anti-Ukrainian narratives and leaked information about the dislocation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the region.
The accomplice gathered "necessary" information through personal contacts and from open sources. Additionally, he covertly surveyed the area, documented Ukrainian objects, and then submitted a "report" to the FSB in the form of text and photos with geographic references.
SSU agents documented the criminal activities of the Russian informant and apprehended him. During the search, a mobile phone used for communication with Lebedev was confiscated from the detainee.
Based on the collected evidence, the suspect was informed of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 114-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (unauthorized dissemination of information about the direction, movement of weapons, ammunition, and armed forces into Ukraine, movement, or placement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces). Pretrial detention was chosen as a preventive measure, and the suspect faces up to 12 years in prison.
