Kyiv resident who allegedly aided Russian New Year's Eve missile attack detained
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained a Kyiv resident who allegedly aided a Russian missile strike against the capital on Dec. 31, 2022, the SBU said on Dec. 4.
Russia launched a large-scale missile attack on Kyiv on Dec. 31 last year, damaging a building of the Taras Shevchenko National University.
The 40-year-old suspect left for Russia via a third country at the end of 2022 and offered to work with Russian intelligence services in exchange for promised Russian citizenship, according to the SBU.
To prove his loyalty, the man immediately provided information on the supposed location of Ukrainian defenses around Kyiv, which Russia used for an attack a few days later, the security service said.
The suspected spy was then reportedly trained by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in Moscow and sent back to Ukraine to collect intelligence on military targets in Kyiv and Zhytomyr Oblast.
SBU officers reportedly exposed the man and detained him in his Kyiv flat. Searches uncovered a phone used to communicate with Russian handlers, Russian symbols, and documents needed to register for Russian citizenship, the SBU reported.
The suspect faces life in prison.
Anastasiia Malenko
