With the assistance of the Minister of Defence, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the Academy’s leadership, the Security Service of Ukraine thwarted a new russian attempt to access Ukraine’s latest unmanned technology developments.

As a result of pre-emptive action, an agent of russia’s military intelligence (‘the GRU’) has been detained. He was of critical importance to the aggressor state and was spying at one of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence’s leading academies.

The investigation revealed that the mole was an associate professor at a research centre.

Acting on orders from the GRU, the agent copied design documentation on the Defence Forces’ latest strike drones and sent it to his handler in russia.

The official also dismissed the developments of Ukrainian arms manufacturers undergoing expert assessment of their tactical and technical characteristics as unpromising.

He prepared ‘negative’ conclusions on test projects for unmanned and robotic systems which he claimed were unsuitable for combat.

However, the SSU Military Counterintelligence documented the suspect’s every move.

Thanks to the pre-emptive actions, the Security Service was able to use the mole to misinform the enemy and prevent the transfer of secret Ukrainian defence developments to the adversary.

In the final stage of the operation, the SSU caught the agent ‘red-handed’ in his office attempting to send new documents to his russian handler.

It has been established that the associate professor was recruited by the GRU via an acquaintance in russia. In exchange for espionage, the perpetrator had hoped to secure a position within the russian occupation administration.

Two mobile phones and computer equipment, which he had used to communicate covertly with the russian intelligence, were seized during the search.

SSU investigators have notified the detainee 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 and confiscation of his property.

The operation was carried out jointly with investigators of the SSU Odesa Office, under the procedural supervision of the Odesa Region Prosecutor’s Office.