Ukrainian couple arrested for aiding Russian missile strikes
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained a couple from Kharkiv. The pair are accused of assisting in the preparation of missile strikes on the defensive positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions.
To obtain intelligence, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) recruited a female agent. The woman worked as a nurse in Kharkiv at a local medical facility. She persuaded her husband to spy for the Russians.
Both were tasked with finding the exact locations of the AFU headquarters, fortifications, and the State Border Guard Service. The woman asked her acquaintances about the AFU locations in the Kharkiv region.
Meanwhile, her husband, once a police officer, asked his former colleagues for information. At his wife’s request, the man also drove a car around the border area to independently identify the locations of Ukrainian defences.
The collected information was sent to a Russian handler via a messaging app on the woman's phone. The couple held pro-Russian views. The woman caught the FSB’s attention due to her pro-Kremlin beliefs, which she frequently shared on social media. Her husband also supported the aggressor country and hoped for the Russian occupier groups to take over the region.
During the search of the detainees' homes, the SBU seized mobile phones and SIM cards from various operators. The smartphones' memory contained evidence of criminal activity.
Investigators charged the woman with treason. Her husband was treated more leniently. He will face court on unauthorised dissemination of information regarding the sending and moving of weapons, arms and ammunition to Ukraine and the position or movement of the Armed Forces or other military formations.
The couple have been arrested. They face 8 years to life in prison. The SBU also identified the person who received the reports from the two pro-Russian spies.
