(MENAFN- UkrinForm) The Security Service of Ukraine detained in Kyiv a Russian national who is believed to have been helping Russia target their missile and drone strikes on air defense capabilities, including NASAMS and Patriots, around Kyiv.
That's according to the SBU press service, Ukrinform reports.
"Among the main targets of the enemy were radars and anti-aircraft missile systems protecting the capital region. The perpetrator was supposed to locate these capabilities weapon and adjust enemy fire to destroy them," the statement reads.
He received the task from Russia's military intelligence, which hired him for clandestine cooperation while the man lived in Murmansk prior to the full-scale invasion.
Upon instructions, the culprit had arrived in Ukraine on the eve of the incursion, allegedly as a seller of household chemicals, fuel and lubricants, as a classic“sleeper agent”, using his business as a cover story for his true intentions.
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Russian handlers ordered their assets to activate intelligence work in the fall of 2023.
Under the guise of commercial trips, he would drive across Kyiv and Cherkasy regions, trying to locate air defense batteries and radars, using hi-resolution marine binoculars and a monocle, as well as a camcorder concealed in his car.
NASAMS and Patriot systems were of particular interest to the suspect's supervisors.
The agent was tasked with handing over the intelligence in the shape of media files and GPS data that would expose the locations of air defense capabilities in order to adjust enemy fire targeting those assets.
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nabs Russian accomplice for spotting strikes
SBU's military counter-intelligence thwarted enemy plans, arresting the culprit in his Kyiv apartment, also securing the positions of Ukrainian air defense systems.
The perpetrator's handler, an operative with the Russian defense intelligence, has also been identified
The suspect has been charged and put into custody, awaiting trial. If found guilty in court, the man will be facing up 12 years in prison.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the SBU detained a former district council deputy and his accomplice, who, on the FSB instructions had been adjusting Russian missile and drone strikes on the right bank of the Dnipro in Kherson region.
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