Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) reported on March 27 that it had neutralized an agent network of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), allegedly aiding in targeting Ukrainian positions in the country’s east.
The agent group consisted of eight residents of Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts, including an assistant to an acting member of Ukraine’s parliament, according to the SBU.
Ukrainska Pravda publication reported, citing its unnamed source, that this person was Oleksandr Dobrodomov, the assistant of Valerii Hnatenko, a lawmaker from the banned pro-Russian Opposition Platform – For Life political party.
The agent network was formed by two FSB officers before the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the SBU wrote. Each member was assigned a pseudonym and developed a conspiratorial legend.
After Russia started its all-out war against Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the agents allegedly started gathering information on the location and movement of Ukrainian troops and equipment and passing it to Russia.
During the Russian occupation of Kharkiv Oblast’s Izium and Balakleia, the informants were selecting candidates for serving in local occupying administrations, according to the investigation.
In exchange, the agents received a monetary reward in Russian rubles and were promised managerial positions in the Moscow–installed administrations if the regions were to be occupied completely.
The SBU charged four suspects with treason committed under martial law. The other four are now in Russia.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
