SBU detains man suspected of spying on military airfields
A man who is suspected of passing on information to Russia about Ukrainian military airfields in Mykolaiv has been detained, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported on Nov. 14.
If convicted, the man faces up to 12 years in prison for disseminating information about the movement, transfer, or placement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Investigators believe that at the start of the Russian full-scale invasion, the man left Ukraine.
While abroad, he started to "actively support the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, after which he was remotely recruited by the Russian special services," the SBU said.
Upon his return to Ukraine in March 2023, he began to try to locate airfields that had combat aircraft in Mykolaiv.
He recorded military sites and sent the information to contacts in the Russian security service.
One of his contacts was pro-Russian blogger Sergei Lebedev, who lives in Russian-occupied Donetsk and uses the pseudonym Lokhmaty.
Lebedev was also the contact for 13 people within a spy network in Mykolaiv that the SBU uncovered earlier this year.
Investigators believe he used a Telegram channel to recruit the individuals and receive intelligence from them.
Abbey Fenbert
