The Security Service neutralized an FSB covert network that adjusted air strikes on military and civilian infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia. As a result of the special operation in the regional center, the head of the hostile group was detained, responsible for directing Russian missiles at a residential building in the city center on October 18.
That night, 5 people died, and 5 sustained severe injuries due to enemy shelling. According to the investigation, a local resident and a member of the Zaporizhzhia "Military Reconstruction Club" was recruited remotely by the FSB in mid-October 2023 for intelligence and subversive activities in the front-line city.
To maintain covert communication with the Russian special services, his handler adopted the operational pseudonym "Palestinian" and created an anonymous chat in a popular messenger. To ensure the execution of hostile tasks, he formed his own group of informants, including 4 local residents, including relatives.
According to the investigation, they gathered intelligence on the locations of the Ukrainian Defense Forces based in Zaporizhzhia and provided geolocations of residential and industrial infrastructure. To collect intelligence, the informants surveyed the area or traveled to objects, capturing them in photos and videos using the cameras on their own phones.
The collected information was transmitted to "Palestinian," who then sent it to the FSB through a "liaison" in one of the temporarily occupied cities in Zaporizhzhia.
During the searches in the residences of the detained FSB resident and his accomplices, firearms, computer equipment, and mobile phones with evidence of criminal activity were seized. Additionally, prohibited Soviet and pro-Kremlin symbols were found on the detainees.
Currently, the Security Service investigators have informed "Palestinian" of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (state treason committed by a group of persons in conditions of war), and pretrial detention has been chosen as a preventive measure. He faces potential life imprisonment.
The investigation is ongoing to bring all participants in the covert network to justice.
