Military counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has exposed and detained a highly important agent of Russian military intelligence (better known as the GRU) who spied for Russia in one of the leading academies of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the SBU press service reports.
"As the investigation revealed, the ‘mole’ of the Russian special service turned out to be an associate professor at a research center. On orders from the Russian GRU, the agent copied and forwarded design documentation on the latest strike drones of the Defense Forces to a handler in Russia. The official also groundlessly labeled developments by Ukrainian weapons manufacturers as unpromising during expert evaluations of their performance characteristics. To this end, he prepared ‘negative’ conclusions on test projects for unmanned and robotic systems, claiming they were supposedly unfit for combat conditions," a report on the Telegram channel says.
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, the official is from the Military Academy in Odesa.
"It has been established that the man held pro-Russian views, denied Ukrainian independence, and since the beginning of 2023 had maintained contact with relatives and acquaintances in the Oryol region of Russia. According to the investigation, given his access to military data and pro-Russian attitude, representatives of Russia offered him cooperation for regular payment. The suspect agreed to work for Russia. According to the case materials, he expected to receive a position in the military command bodies of the new ‘administration’ following a potential occupation," the prosecutor’s office reports on Telegram.
Thanks to preemptive actions, the SBU used the "mole" to feed disinformation to Russia and prevented the transfer of classified developments of the Ukrainian defense industry.
At the final stage of the special operation, SBU officers caught the agent red-handed in his office as he was attempting to send new documents to his handler in Russia.
During a search, two mobile phones and computer equipment used for clandestine communication with the Russian GRU were seized from the detainee.
SBU investigators have notified him of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 111 (high treason committed under martial law) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The perpetrator is held in custody without the right to bail. He faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
