Following the evidence collected by the SSU, another three spotters working for russian intelligence services were sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment with property confiscation. They had been recruited by ruscists via Telegram channels offering ‘easy’ money. The spotters operated independently in the Donetsk and Sumy regions.

The investigation revealed that the perpetrators guided hostile shelling strikes against local defence industry and critical infrastructure facilities.

For instance, in Sumy region, a local unemployed man recruited by the fsb was sentenced to prison after the SSU counterintelligence exposed him in April 2025 for guiding russian attacks against the border region.

To identify the locations of potential ‘targets’, the traitor drove around the area on public buses and covertly recorded the positions of the Defence Forces’ checkpoints using his phone camera.

To maintain his cover, the agent disguised himself as a member of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. To this end, he regularly dressed in camouflage before each reconnaissance mission.

He transmitted the collected information to his handler in russia via messenger, using code words to signal his readiness to get in touch, provide a ‘report’ and continue his subversive activities.

The SSU caught the traitor ‘red-handed’ whilst he was conducting further reconnaissance near a military facility.

In Dnipro, a spotter working for russian military intelligence (better known as the ‘gru’) was sentenced; he had been exposed by the SSU in January this year. He turned out to be a mine worker from the temporarily occupied town of Novohrodivka in the Donetsk region, who, prior to the occupation of the town, had been directing enemy strikes in the Pokrovsk direction.

As investigation revealed, the man was recruited by ruscists via banned social media platform called ‘Odnoklassniki’. There, a woman working as a ‘liaison’ for the russian intelligence service contacted him, offering cooperation in exchange for an intimate relationship.

Having agreed to the ‘proposal’, the traitor began tracking the locations of Ukrainian troops holding the defence line near Novohrodivka. To obtain intelligence, the perpetrator used his sister without her knowing.

After the town was occupied, the agent moved to the Kyiv region, where he hoped to ‘lay low’ so that he could later continue working for the enemy.

However, the SSU located and detained him in a rented flat.

In the Donetsk region, an unemployed resident of Sloviansk faces imprisonment for tracking the locations of the Defence Forces on the Kramatorsk axis for russia.

He came to the attention of russians when he posted comments on a pro-Kremlin Telegram channel sharing his thoughts about the consequences of the enemy ‘strikes’ on the region.

In exchange for his cooperation, the traitor was offered the role of coadministrator of the web source and was promised money.

After being recruited, the agent walked around Sloviansk and its surroundings to record the locations of the Defence Forces’ reserve command posts, logistics depots, and fortified areas using his smartphone.

The SSU detained the enemy spotter at his place of residence in June 2025.

Following the evidence provided by the Security Service, the court found all three perpetrators guilty under the Article 111.2 of the CCU (treason committed under martial law).

The investigation was carried out by SSU employees in Sumy, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions under the procedural supervision of the Donetsk and Sumy Regional Prosecutor’s Offices.