The head of a Russian intelligence network operating under the leadership of the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSS) in Ukraine's Zaporozhye region, was sentenced to life imprisonment in a case brought by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), Ukrinform reported, without specifying the name of the convicted person, BTA reported.
His accomplice will spend fifteen years behind bars. In the spring of last year, the convicts organized a series of terrorist attacks against the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and against special operations units of the SSU, Ukrinform states.
To this end, Russian agents spied on temporary bases and supply routes of Ukrainian forces in the Zaporizhzhia region and sent confidential information to their superiors in the FSS for financial remuneration.
Furthermore, the FSS prepared a plan to eliminate Ukrainian officials with explosives that were supposed to be planted in the bases. "SSU counterintelligence uncovered the network, verified the crimes step by step and detained the spies during an operation in the city of Zaporozhye in early May 2023," said the statement of the SSU press center, quoted by Ukrinform.
The head of the spy cell is a fifty-two-year-old Ukrainian citizen. He was recruited by Russia's FSS after Moscow noticed him thanks to his pro-Russian stance in social media posts. He had six accomplices in his illegal operations, Ukrinform notes. The agency reported earlier that the SSU detained in the Ukrainian city of Cherkasy an FSS agent who had been spying on military bases and combat positions of Ukraine's air defense units.