Mykolaiv resident leaks information on whereabouts of Ukrainian authorities and Armed Forces to Russian Intelligence in Crimea

Counterintelligence officers of the Security Service of Ukraine have prevented another Russian attempt to obtain the coordinates of buildings where military-civil administrations and units of the Defence Forces in Mykolaiv Oblast were temporarily relocated, and have arrested a resident of Mykolaiv.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine (SSU); Mykolaiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office

Details: During counter-sabotage measures in the frontline territory of Mykolaiv Oblast, SSU officers arrested a woman who cooperated with the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (namely, the Main Intelligence Directorate).

According to the investigation, the Russian informant was a resident who has been remotely cooperating with the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate since the spring of 2023.

Her main task was to establish the exact coordinates of administrative buildings of local executive authorities and the time intervals of the maximum turnout of officials there.

The Russian agent also tried to identify possible positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ long-range artillery, including HIMARS artillery rocket systems, which are involved in combat operations of Ukrainian troops on the southern front.

The woman transmitted the information to the Russian Special Service through a middleman. It turned out to be her close relative, who previously served in the disbanded Ukrainian Special Forces Berkut, and now is part of the Russian occupation police in temporarily occupied Crimea.

The Russian invaders needed the intelligence to prepare a new series of air strikes on Ukrainian targets in Mykolaiv Oblast.

Quote from the prosecutor's office: "The investigations found that in June 2023, the suspect collected information about the locations of military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and military equipment on the territory of Mykolaiv and Kherson oblasts and sent it to a relative living in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea via Telegram.

At the same time, the woman was aware that the information she provided could be used to launch artillery or airstrikes on these sites by Russia."

Details: SSU officers promptly exposed the offender, gradually documented her criminal actions and arrested her while she was trying to transfer intelligence to Russia.

During the searches, a mobile phone with evidence of correspondence with a representative of the Russian Special Service was seized from the detainee.

SSU investigators served a notice of suspicion on the 55-year-old resident of Mykolaiv regarding the unauthorised dissemination of information about the location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Art. 114-2.3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The informant was remanded in custody as a preventive measure without the right to pay bail. She faces up to 12 years in prison.

An investigation is underway to establish all the circumstances of the crime.

Earlier: On 16 July, during a special operation in Kherson Oblast, military counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine arrested a Ukrainian Armed Forces contract servicewoman on suspicion of treason and cooperation with Russian intelligence.

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