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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The Military Counterintelligence Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine, under the personal coordination of SBU head Oleksandr Poklad, neutralized a large-scale agent network of Russia’s military intelligence (the GRU), through which the enemy could have carried out missile strikes against Ukrainian Air Force bases, according to the SBU press service.
As the investigation found, the defendants’ activities enabled the opponent to plan and carry out attacks on Ukrainian airfields using F-16 and Mirage 2000 aircraft.
According to materials of the case, the group recruited by the enemy consisted of 14 dozen individuals residing in different regions of Ukraine.
“Countering Russian special services that seek to destabilize the situation in Ukraine from within is one of the SBU’s main priorities today. We are actively strengthening the counterintelligence regime because we understand that the enemy will continue to try to damage our defense potential and destabilize the Ukrainian rear, failing to achieve noticeable success at the front. This operation is yet another example of our systemic work in this area. To anyone who agrees to work in the interests of the RF, understand that the SBU will certainly hold you to account,” said the head of the SBU, Oleksandr Poklad.
It was established that initially the GRU recruited a Lviv native who ran a Telegram channel about aviation. He came to the attention of the Russians when he published photos of Ukrainian Armed Forces aircraft in pro-Kremlin chats.
To carry out the enemy’s assignment, the agent “in the dark” enlisted 13 followers who have high-quality photographic equipment and live near the military aviation infrastructure of the Defense Forces.
They were supposed to photograph Ukrainian airfields, military aircraft, their crews and maintenance personnel, as well as document time intervals of takeoffs and landings of aircraft supposedly for the Telegram channel of the Lviv blogger.
For this, the defendants used professional cameras, hiding in abandoned buildings or in an open area near the air bases.
The photographs were stored in an online repository, access to which had been obtained in advance through the agent. He then transmitted the photo material to his curator in the Russian Federation, a person already identified by the Security Service.
Also, the agent leaked flight and landing schedules of attack helicopters to the Russians. Such intelligence he received from a Ukrainian Air Forces squadron commander who voluntarily provided the information.
During searches of the defendants’ residences, smartphones and digital photography equipment with evidence of collaboration with the enemy, as well as photos of aviation facilities of the Defense Forces, were seized.
In addition, SBU officers blocked 4 channels and 10 Telegram thematic groups where photos and other data about the Ukrainian air units were being disseminated.
Currently, investigators from the Security Service have informed the detained agent, his accomplice, and the serviceman about charges of crimes against the foundations of national security.
The investigation is ongoing to bring all those responsible to justice.
Comprehensive measures were conducted by SBU Military Counterintelligence officers under the procedural guidance of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The Security Service of Ukraine urges citizens to stay vigilant. If you are approached with dubious proposals, you see suspicious objects or individuals, or you receive information about activities of Russian security services, websites and social networks they use for recruitment, report it to the SBU:
Chat-bot “Spali” FSB officer – t.me/spaly_fsb_bot
Phone: 1516
Email: [email protected]
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "СБУ викрила агентурну мережу ГРУ РФ, до якої входило 14 осіб, що «полювали» за F-16 та Mirage 2000 (ВІДЕО)". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Bagnet.
