The counterintelligence division of the Security Service of Ukraine detained two citizens of the People’s Republic of China in Kyiv who attempted to illegally export classified documentation on the Ukrainian RK-360MC Neptune missile system to China.
This is a unique weapon of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, designed to strike all types of combat and landing ships. It is worth recalling that the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet — the missile cruiser “Moskva” — was destroyed precisely by a Neptune missile.
The investigation established that one of the Chinese spies is a 24-year-old former student of a Kyiv technical university. He remained in Kyiv after being expelled in 2023 for academic failure.
The other suspect is his father, who permanently resides in China but periodically visited Ukraine to personally coordinate his son’s espionage activities.
According to the case materials, the former Chinese student was supposed to obtain technical documentation on the production of Ukrainian “Neptune” missiles.
To do this, he attempted to recruit a Ukrainian citizen involved in the development of advanced weapons for the Defense Forces.
The SSU counterintelligence uncovered the spy at an early stage of his intelligence activities and detained him “red-handed” while receiving secret documents.
The next step was the arrest of his father, who was to transfer the classified information to Chinese intelligence services.
During searches, both suspects’ phones were confiscated, containing evidence of correspondence coordinating their espionage activities.
Based on the collected evidence, SSU investigators charged the detainees under Part 1 of Article 114 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (espionage).
The suspects face up to 15 years in prison with asset confiscation.
