SSU detains two enemy accomplices who ‘hunted’ for Patriot system and photographed consequences of hits in Kyiv and Cherkasy

The SSU Counterintelligence has exposed another two enemy accomplices who collected information about Ukraine’s Defence Forces and consequences of russian air attacks in Kyiv and Cherkasy. They have been apprehended, one of them just before leaving for the aggressor state.

According to the investigation, one of the perpetrators was interested in coordinates of Ukraine’s air defence systems, including Patriot.

The spotters also drove to the sites of the enemy’s air strikes and photographed their consequences. Photos were taken from different angles and georeferenced.

The SSU established that after the russian missile attack on Cherkasy on 21 September 2023, one of the informants, the woman, had covertly photographed the damaged building in the city centre and sent the images to her accomplice, a russian citizen living in Kyiv.

After receiving the ‘report’ with more detailed data on the damage, the man tried to leave for russia, planning to travel through the EU as a person of non-conscription age.

However, the SSU detained him after he had purchased tickets to one of the European states.

The investigation revealed that the suspect was a PhD, a former lecturer at one of Chernihiv’s higher education institutions. In 2015, he travelled to the temporarily occupied Crimea, where received a russian passport.

He soon returned to Kyiv, and after the full-scale invasion, began to covertly monitor locations of Ukraine’s Defence Forces in the capital.

Later, the traitor involved an acquaintance from Cherkasy in the sabotage activities.

The SSU documented her criminal actions and detained the suspect at her home.

During the searches, the SSU found:

  • banned symbols of the aggressor state;
  • souvenirs with putin’s images;
  • a russian passport;
  • mobile phones with evidence of the crimes.

SSU investigators have qualified the unlawful actions of the detained persons under two Articles of the CCU:

  • 114-2.2 (unauthorized dissemination of information on transfer, movement and location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine);
  • 436-2.1, 436-2.3 (justification, recognition as lawful, denial of russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, glorification of its participants).

The court chose custody as a measure of restraint. The investigation is ongoing. The suspects are facing up to 8 years in prison.

The operation was carried out by the SSU Office in Cherkasy region under the procedural supervision of the regional Prosecutor’s Office.