Counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has detained another Russian informant who was spying near the front line in Donetsk. The suspect was directing Russian Lancet kamikaze drone strikes on residential areas in Kostyantynivka.
According to the case materials, the airstrike guidance was carried out by a 59‑year‑old local unemployed man recruited by Russian forces. He came under the attention of Russian intelligence after posting calls in Telegram channels to seize the local community.
Investigations revealed that the suspect transmitted geolocations of buildings he believed might house Ukrainian defenders to his Russian handlers. He also provided Russian forces with coordinates of social infrastructure facilities essential for the city’s functioning amid ongoing shelling.
Due to intensified Russian attacks on the city, the informant posed as a displaced person and relocated to the Lviv region to "lay low." However, this did not protect him. SSU officers located and arrested him in a rented apartment. During a search, his smartphone containing evidence of collaboration with Russian forces was confiscated.
The SSU investigators have charged the suspect under Part 2 of Article 114‑2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (unauthorized dissemination of information about the movement, deployment, or location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during martial law).
Additional charges are under consideration. The suspect remains in custody and faces up to eight years in prison.
