In the Donetsk region, the SSU Counterintelligence has neutralised another spy network of russia’s federal security service. Following operations in Kramatorsk, four members of the cell were detained. Acting on enemy instructions, they recorded the coordinates of the Defence Forces within the frontline city.

The ‘priority targets’ for reconnaissance, as set by their handlers, were reserve command posts, logistics depots, fortifications, and the routes of movement of the Defence Forces towards the front line.

The agents also monitored the aftermath of russian strikes on Kramatorsk in order to prepare new attacks or adjust follow-up shelling of the city.

According to the investigation, three of the agents were recruited by an acquaintance of theirs who lives in St Petersburg and works for Aleksandr Nogash, a member of the ‘FSB Directorate in the DNR’ (the so-called ‘donetsk people’s republic’).

One of the assets was a driver for the housing and communal services department in Kramatorsk. Under the guise of work, he drove around the city to identify and pass the locations of Ukrainian defenders to the enemy.

He also sought out potential candidates for further recruitment by the russian intelligence.

The enemy spy cell included a local plumber and his wife, who drove around the city in their car filming sites on their mobile phones which they believed were being used by the Defence Forces.

Later, the pair recruited a local estate agent, a friend of theirs, to collaborate with russia. She scouted out locations where personnel were concentrated and the routes taken by the defenders of the Donetsk Oblast.

The SSU identified all four suspects, documented their crimes, and detained them at their places of residence.

During the searches of their homes, smartphones and other electronic devices containing evidence of their work for the FSB were seized.

SSU investigators notified the detainees of suspicion under Article 111.2 of the CCU (high treason, committed under martial law).

The suspects are in custody and face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The operation was carried out under the procedural supervision of the Office of the Prosecutor General.