Based on the evidence collected by the Security Service of Ukraine, an FSB agent – exposed in April 2025 in the Donetsk region – has been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property. The perpetrator directed enemy fire at fortified areas and combat positions of the Defence Forces in the Novopavlivka sector.

As the investigation revealed, enemy strikes were guided by a protopriest of the Pokrovsk Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (moscow patriarchate), who had been recruited by the russian intelligence.

The cleric came to the attention of russia’s federal security service through his daughter, who lives in russia.

After the full-scale invasion began, she wrote to putin requesting russian citizenship for her mother and sister, who were in Ukraine.

Consequently, an FSB officer approached the archpriest and offered him cooperation in exchange for the extraction of the priest’s family to the aggressor state, along with russian citizenship and a promise of money.

After the recruitment, the cleric began walking in the frontline area to identify the locations of Ukrainian troops and pass this information to his handler in russia.

The agent reported the locations to the enemy via a messaging app.

The SSU detained the traitor at his home. During a search, a smartphone containing evidence of his collaboration with the FSB was seized.

Based on evidence, the court found the accused guilty under Article 111.2 of the CCU (high treason, committed under martial law).

The investigation was carried out by the SSU Office in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions under the procedural supervision of the Donetsk Region Prosecutor’s Office.