SSU exposes 8 russian agents involved in clandestine registration of Starlink accounts for occupiers
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has detained eight more russian agents who, acting on orders from the enemy, were registering “Starlink” satellite terminals for armed groups in the aggressor country. This is stated in an SSU press release.
The investigation revealed that the suspects were residents of various regions of Ukraine, aged 18 to 44, who had come to the attention of russian intelligence officers through Telegram channels advertising “easy money.”
In the Rivne Regon, the SSU detained two perpetrators who had deserted their military unit without authorization and subsequently collaborated with the enemy. After being recruited, both deserters first registered “Starlink” devices in their own names and provided the relevant details to their handlers in russia. Afterward, the agents received instructions from russian intelligence officers to involve as many people as possible in the illegal verification of the terminals. To do this, both perpetrators used the passport data of at least 14 of their acquaintances under false pretenses.
Two perpetrators with prior convictions for theft and robbery were detained in the Dnipropetrovsk Region. According to the SSU’s counterintelligence, the perpetrators initially registered the “Starlink” terminals in their own names and provided the necessary details to a handler in russia, and then recruited 14 more people to participate in the illegal registration of the terminals.
In Volyn, the SSU exposed an 18-year-old resident of the regional capital who registered a “Starlink” in his own name and provided access to the russians, and then recruited seven more acquaintances who illegally activated the satellite systems for russia.
Based on the evidence gathered, Security Service investigators notified the detainees of their status as suspects in connection with the crimes committed under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Part 2 of Article 111 (treason committed under martial law);
- Part 1 of Article 111-2 (aiding an aggressor state);
- Part 4 of Article 408 (desertion).
The suspects face sentences ranging from 10 years in prison to life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the SSU previously identified a prison guard and collaborator who tortured Ukrainian prisoners at the Luhansk penal colony.