Volunteer-turned-spy sentenced to 15 years for FSB espionage

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported the information.

The counterintelligence of Ukraine’s Security Service detained the woman in early September 2022 when she was scouting the Ukrainian Defense Forces' base locations. A resident of the temporarily occupied Polohy district of the Zaporizhzhia region was recruited in her community and later sent to the regional center as a "volunteer." Upon arriving in the city, the woman attempted to establish personal contacts with Ukrainian defenders to covertly use these new connections to gather intelligence.

According to the instructions received from the FSB, the agent was supposed to send the geolocations of headquarters, defense positions, and artillery positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Zaporizhzhia area to her Russian handler. She communicated with them via an anonymous chat in a messenger, where she received Russian tasks and sent intelligence reports.

Simultaneously with documenting the agent's reconnaissance activities and her arrest, the SBU conducted comprehensive measures to secure the Ukrainian Defense Forces' locations.

The court found the woman guilty under part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (treason committed in wartime conditions).