SSU detains in Cherkasy Region IT specialist who recruited adjusters for FSB

The Security Service of Ukraine has detained two more FSB agents. Among them is an IT specialist from the Cherkasy Region who was creating new channels for the enemy to recruit local residents. This is stated in a report by the SSU.

According to law enforcement officials, the enemy agent registered mobile numbers from Ukrainian carriers to create fake accounts on social media. The perpetrator then transferred the accounts to the russian intelligence service to conduct recruitment operations purportedly on behalf of Ukrainian citizens.

At the same time, the agent opened online accounts under the names of straw men, which the russians planned to use for covert financing of agent networks. To do this, he sought out drug addicts and unemployed individuals who, in exchange for a one-time cash payment, agreed to provide him with their personal details.

The IT specialist also personally selected potential “candidates” for recruitment and passed their contact information to the FSB. SSU counterintelligence officers documented how the suspect helped the russian intelligence service “make contact” with an unemployed resident of the Rivne Region.

Following instructions from the russians, the “newly recruited” agent coordinated the aggressor state’s airstrikes on the west of Ukraine. To carry out the hostile mission, he marked the Defense Forces’ locations on Google Maps and sent them via messenger to his FSB handler.

"SSU officers exposed the enemy spotter at the initial stage of his espionage activities and detained him at his place of residence. At the same time, an IT specialist acting as an agent was detained at his residence. During searches of both suspects’ premises, smartphones and computer equipment containing evidence of work for the enemy were seized,” the security service reported.

SSU investigators informed the detainees that they are suspected of treason committed under martial law (Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The suspects are being held in custody without the right to bail. They face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the SSU previously detained a russian agent who directed shelling of Kramatorsk and set fire to a Ukrainian Armed Forces armored personnel carrier.