Psychotherapist, UOC-MP Deacon Arrested In Kharkiv For Spying On AFU

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) In Kharkiv, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has detained a psychotherapist and a deacon from the Kharkiv diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) who were spying on the armed forces of Ukraine at the behest of Russian intelligence services.

According to Ukrinform, the SSU reported this.

The suspects were attempting to gather information on the concentration points of Ukrainian military personnel and equipment in Kharkiv.

They were also collecting personal data of Ukrainian defenders, as well as the movement routes within the city.

The psychotherapist used his patients, including military personnel undergoing psychological rehabilitation after combat, to gather intelligence.

He enlisted his close acquaintance, a deacon from the Kharkiv diocese, who discreetly inquired about information from parishioners. The deacon then passed the information to the psychotherapist, who compiled the reports and sent them to his Russian handler via messaging apps.

For communication with the FSB, the agent used a separate phone and SIM card, which he concealed in his mailbox.

These measures of concealment did not prevent their capture. The SSU documented the crimes of both individuals and arrested them at their residences.

Read also: SSU detains Russian agent adjusting airstrikes in Kramatorsk sector

According to the SSU counterintelligence officers, the detained doctor had been a "sleeping agent" of the FSB for some time. In the spring of 2024, the Russian intelligence service remotely activated him to carry out subversive activities in Kharkiv.

During the searches, mobile phones and computer equipment containing evidence of collaboration with the Russian intelligence service were seized from the detainees.

The SSU investigators have charged the agents under Article 28, part 2, Article 111, part 2 (state treason committed by a group of people by prior conspiracy during martial law), and Article 436-2, part 1 (justification of Russian armed aggression against Ukraine, glorification of its participants) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The criminals are currently held in custody without the right to bail. They face a life sentence with property confiscation.

As reported earlier by Ukrinform, the SSU and the National Police in Kharkiv also detained a Russian intelligence agent who planted explosives near the private home of a Ukrainian Armed Forces veteran.

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