The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained a Kyiv resident for allegedly spying on military facilities and critical infrastructure in the capital in cooperation with Russian intelligence services, the SBU’s press service reported on Jan. 30.
This information would help the Russian Armed Forces to plan further attacks on critical and military infrastructure in Kyiv, which has been targeted in several mass strikes over the past weeks.
The alleged spy, aged 52, was recruited by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) agent in the fall of 2023 and was tasked with reconnaissance missions, the SBU said. The suspect faces life imprisonment.
According to the SBU, the Kyiv resident tried to gather information about the locations of the reserve command centers of the Third Assault Brigade and the Ukrainian Ground Forces’ headquarters.
He also provided Russia with coordinates of key energy enterprises that supply electricity and heating to most of the capital’s civilian infrastructure, the SBU said.
As SBU’s cyber specialists revealed, the agent provided Russian intelligence services with information on electrical substations, main power lines, and the boiler rooms of the municipal enterprise KyivTeploEnergo.
The defendant also reportedly wanted to get a job at the arms factory to gather data about Ukrainian military production. He had already sent an application to the recruitment department of the strategic enterprise before he was detained by SBU, the Security Service said.