As a result of counter-sabotage operations in Mykolaiv, the SSU has detained another informant of russia’s FSB. The traitor was collecting intelligence on locations and movements of Ukraine’s Defence Forces in the region.

With the start of the full-scale invasion, the man went abroad and began to actively support russia’s armed aggression. Then, he was recruited remotely by russian intelligence services.

Upon his return to Ukraine in March 2023, he tried to identify possible locations of military airfields with the AFU’s combat aircraft.

The agent maintained communication with the FSB through ‘liaisons’. One of them was the pro-kremlin blogger Serhiy Lebedev (better known as ‘Lokhmatyi’), who is in the temporarily occupied Donetsk and works for the russian intelligence.

In June this year, the SSU notified this blogger in absentia of suspicion of high treason and neutralised his network of informants in Mykolaiv oblast.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the SSU has exposed 13 agents of this group.

The FSB’s asset in question is a local resident, an active user of Lokhmatyi's Telegram channel.

During the communication with the enemy blogger, his ‘follower’ supported anti-Ukrainian narratives and provided information on the deployment of Ukrainian Defence Forces in the region.

The informant collected the intelligence through personal contacts and open sources.

He also walked in the target areas and covertly recorded locations of Ukrainian facilities, and then passed the ‘reports’ to the FSB as texts and georeferenced photos.

The SSU documented his unlawful activity and apprehended him.

During the search, the SSU seized the mobile phone the suspect used to communicate with Lebedev.

Based on the collected evidence, the detained individual was served a notice of suspicion under Article 114-2.3 of the CCU (unauthorised dissemination of information on sending, transfer of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, movement, transfer or deployment of the AFU).

The court chose custody as a measure of restraint for the suspect, who is facing up to 12 years in prison.

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