Based on materials from the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the court sentenced to 15 years in prison a cleric of the UOC (MP), who transmitted information about the defense of Sumy region to enemy intelligence services, the SBU said.

"Due to the evidence base of the Security Service, the rector of the UOC (MP) temple, who was part of the FSB intelligence apparatus and collected intelligence information about the defense system of Sumy region, received a real prison term," the Ukrainian special service said in a statement on its Telegram channel on Wednesday.

According to the SBU, first of all, the enemy was interested in the geolocation of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the constituent data of officials of the military and civil administrations in Shostka district.

According to the statement, the SBU counterintelligence detained a priest, a Russian agent, in March 2023 while attempting to transmit intelligence information to the FSB.

As the investigation established, the cleric was remotely recruited by the aggressor after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, and came to the attention of the occupiers because of his pro-Kremlin views.

In order to collect intelligence information, the rector of the temple tried to "secretly" use local residents, from whom he asked for information under the guise of everyday conversations.

He also recorded the location of Ukrainian defenders when he travelled through the border region.

"The Russian agent transmitted the received intelligence information to his FSB curator through anonymous messengers, using text messages and media files of objects linked to the location," the SBU said.

Based on the collected evidence, the court found the attacker guilty under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (high treason committed under martial law) and sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

The investigation was carried out by SBU officers in Sumy region under the procedural leadership of the regional prosecutor's office.