The SSU Counterintelligence has detained another agent of russian military intelligence (‘the GRU’) in Odesa. He turned out to be a priest from one of the churches of the local diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of moscow patriarchate who had been recruited by the enemy and coordinated a double strike on Odesa in March 2024.

At that time, using his coordinates, the ruscists attacked a recreational area of the port city with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles.

The first struck residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure in the regional centre, where, in the spotter’s opinion, military personnel might have been present. The second strike hit the same location as emergency services arrived at the scene.

After the strike, the agent ‘reported’ to the GRU on its consequences of and lay low to evade exposure.

However, this did not help him. The SSU established the priest’s involvement in directing the attacks on Odesa and detained him at his home.

As the investigation revealed, the cleric came to GRU’s attention when he posted pro-kremlin comments on Telegram channels.

After the recruitment, the priest, without removing his cassock, walked around the city to mark the geolocations of potential ‘targets’ on Google Maps.

He transmitted the collected data to a chatbot administered by the traitor – Serhiy Lebedev (‘Lokhmatyi’), who is hiding in Donetsk and works for russian military intelligence.

It was also established that the agent transmitted to the enemy the coordinates of the locations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ air defence forces and assets, which protect the Odesa region during russian missile attacks.

In addition, the cleric passed information to the occupiers about one of the power substations near Odesa, specifically regarding its defence system, and after the enemy strike on the energy facility, he informed the GRU about the aftermath of the attack.

During searches, a smartphone, which the perpetrator used to collect intelligence and maintain contact with aggressor state, was seized.

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

The suspect is in custody without bail and faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

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