Ukrainian couple arrested for aiding Russian missile strikes
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained a couple from Kharkiv, accusing them of assisting in the preparation of missile strikes on the defensive positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions.
5:31 PM EDT, July 16, 2024
To collect intelligence, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) recruited a female agent who worked as a nurse at a local medical facility in Kharkiv. She persuaded her husband to spy for the Russians.
The couple was tasked with finding the exact locations of the AFU headquarters, fortifications, and the State Border Guard Service. Using her connections, the woman asked her acquaintances about the AFU positions in the Kharkiv region.
Meanwhile, her husband, a former police officer, asked his former colleagues for information and drove around the border area to independently identify the locations of Ukrainian defenses at his wife’s request.
The collected information was sent to a Russian handler via a messenger app on the woman's phone. The couple held pro-Russian views. The woman caught the FSB’s attention due to her pro-Kremlin beliefs, which she frequently shared on social media. Her husband also supported the aggressor country and hoped for the Russian occupiers to take over the region.
During the search of the detainees' homes, the SBU seized mobile phones and SIM cards from various operators. Evidence of criminal activity was found in the smartphones' memory.
Investigators charged the woman with treason, while her husband received more lenient treatment. He will face court on charges of unauthorized dissemination of information regarding the sending and movement of weapons, arms, and ammunition to Ukraine and the position or movement of the Armed Forces or other military formations.
The couple has been arrested and faces eight years to life in prison. The SBU also identified the person who received the reports from these two pro-Russian spies.
