SBU detains engineer at Dnipropetrovsk defence plant who spied for two Russian intelligence services

The Security Service of Ukraine’s counterintelligence has detained another Russian agent in Dnipropetrovsk region - an engineer at a strategic defence plant who simultaneously spied for the FSB and military intelligence.

"The rashists recruited him through his son, who is serving a prison sentence in the aggressor country for drug offenses. In exchange for promises of amnesty for the prisoner, the agent was to collect and pass secret information about the fulfilment of a defence order to the enemy," the SBU said in a Tuesday Telegram post.

According to the Ukrainian security service, the suspect planned to use his security clearance and actual access to the plant’s special workshops for this purpose.

"Russian intelligence operatives also hoped to obtain the geolocations of high-tech premises and the plant’s industrial zone, which the enemy was preparing ballistic strikes against," the statement reads.

SBU officers identified the agent’s intelligence activity in advance, documented his crimes, and detained him at his workplace.

The investigation also established that the suspect was tasked with identifying potential candidates for recruitment into Russia’s agent network among his colleagues and plant security staff.

During a search, a smartphone containing evidence of his work for two Russian handlers was seized from the detainee. They used several anonymous messenger chats for covert communication.

Security Service investigators served the agent with a suspicion notice under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (state treason committed under martial law).

The perpetrator is held in custody without the right to post bail. He faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The comprehensive measures were carried out by SBU officers in Dnipropetrovsk region under the procedural supervision of the regional prosecutor’s office.