Ukrainian serviceman recruited by Russia's FSB to help kill airborne brigade commander, SBU says
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Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has detained an alleged Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agent who was helping to prepare a missile strike aimed at killing a commander of a Ukrainian Air Assault Forces brigade, the SBU reported on Nov. 12.
The suspect, a mobilized Ukrainian serviceman, was arrested in the city of Mykolaiv while preparing to send to his Russian handler the coordinates of a military facility, where the brigade commander, a colonel, was expected to be present, the SBU said.
According to the SBU, the alleged agent was tasked with guiding a Russian missile strike on the headquarters of the Ukrainian military unit in real time.
The investigation revealed that the serviceman "attracted the attention" of Russian intelligence while seeking romantic relationships on Telegram dating channels.
After being recruited, he communicated with an FSB officer via an anonymous chat. Using his position as a driver, the suspect gathered information about the brigade command's whereabouts.
He also allegedly supplied information on Ukrainian military facilities that stored and launched long-range attack drones targeting Russian forces' rear positions.
The SBU said that it detected the plot in advance, secured the locations of Ukrainian airborne troops, and arrested the suspect at his military unit. Investigators discovered a phone containing messages to the FSB handler, detailing preparations for the planned assassination.
The operation was conducted by the SBU's military counterintelligence in collaboration with Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR).
The suspect was charged with high treason under martial law. He is currently in custody without the right to bail and faces life imprisonment along with the confiscation of property if convicted.
