As a result of a multi-stage special operation in Odesa, the SSU Counterintelligence has detained another asset of the GRU (the main directorate of the general staff of the russian armed forces). The spy was adjusting russian air attacks on the city and conducting reconnaissance of locations of Ukraine’s Defence Forces in the region.

For disguise, the agent joined a local volunteer rescue team. This NGO assists the units of the State Emergency Service in dealing with the consequences of the aggressor’s missile and drone strikes.

The SSU established that, posing as a rescuer, he had arrived at the sites of hits supposedly to clear the rubble, but in fact recorded the consequences of the attacks and ‘reported’ to the russian military intelligence.

The occupiers used the obtained data to prepare new and adjust repeated strikes on Odesa.

His other task was to identify combat positions of HIMARS and the AFU’s air defence systems in the frontline areas.

The SSU identified the enemy accomplice, established his location and detained him.

According to the investigation, the traitor is a 29-year-old Odesa resident, who had previously been a member of the local branch of the so-called ‘Lenin’s communist youth union’.

He was also a ‘liaison’ of an FSB agent, former soldier of a special force, whom the SSU lured out of Transnistria earlier and apprehended in Odesa region. Back in May 2014, the latter actively participated in provoking mass riots in the region’s centre.

At the onset of russia’s full-scale invasion, the Odesa resident subscribed to an enemy Telegram channel that collected information on locations of Ukrainian troops for the russian intelligence.

Subsequently, the administrator of this online resource, who is ‘working’ undercover in one of the Central Asian states, contacted him and put him in direct contact with the GRU.

After recruitment, the asset received instructions and started fulfilling enemy assignments. A messenger app was used for communication; the data were transmitted in the form of text messages and photos of Ukrainian targets.

Based on the evidence, the SSU served the detained individual a notice of suspicion under Article 111.2 of the CCU (high treason committed under martial law).

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. The suspect is in custody, facing life imprisonment.

The operation was conducted under the procedural supervision of Odesa Region Prosecutor’s Office.