In Kharkiv, a saleswoman was passing information about the Ukrainian Armed Forces to Russia and planning terrorist attacks against military personnel

The Security Service of Ukraine has detained a Kharkiv resident suspected of gathering and passing information about Ukrainian military personnel to Russian intelligence agencies. According to the investigation, the local saleswoman was also tasked with participating in the planning of terrorist attacks against Ukrainian soldiers who were on rotation after serving on the front lines.

According to the investigation, the woman worked as a saleswoman at a local store and was recruited by Russian intelligence agencies. She came to the enemy’s attention after posting pro-Kremlin comments in Telegram chat rooms.

After being recruited, the suspect was tasked with gathering information to help refine Russian strikes on Kharkiv.

“After being recruited, the suspect walked the streets of the regional center to identify backup command posts of the Defense Forces, which the enemy was targeting with a series of airstrikes. To carry out the enemy’s mission, the suspect used her phone camera to photograph the facades of buildings near which she noticed concentrations of Ukrainian defenders’ personnel and equipment,” the SBU statement reads.

The woman photographed buildings near which she noticed Ukrainian military personnel and equipment and passed the collected materials on to her Russian handlers.

SBU cyber experts detected the Kharkiv woman’s contacts with Russian intelligence services in advance, documented her intelligence activities, and detained her at her place of residence.

During the investigation, law enforcement officials also determined that the suspect’s next assignment was to participate in planning terrorist attacks against Ukrainian soldiers returning from the front lines for rotation.

“It also became known that the suspect’s next task was to participate in the preparation of terrorist attacks against Ukrainian soldiers who were on rotation after serving on the front lines. It was established that the informant additionally tracked the parking locations of Ukrainian Armed Forces vehicles, photographed these locations, and transmitted the images to her handler in Russia. During searches of the detainee’s premises, law enforcement officers discovered a smartphone containing files of military facilities and a chat in a messaging app through which she communicated with the enemy,” the SBU reported.

During the search, law enforcement officers seized a smartphone containing photographs of military facilities and correspondence with a representative of the Russian special services.

SBU investigators informed the detainee that she is suspected of violating Part 2 of Article 114-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—the unauthorized dissemination of information regarding the movement or deployment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or other military formations, committed under martial law.

The suspect is currently in custody. She faces up to eight years in prison.

In addition, law enforcement officials are considering whether to further classify her actions as high treason.

This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Previously, the military counterintelligence unit of the Security Service of Ukraine, in cooperation with the State Bureau of Investigation, exposed a military servicemember recruited by the FSB who was passing on the coordinates of Ukrainian military facilities on the southern front to Russia. To conceal his ties to the Russian intelligence service, the agent changed 77 phone numbers and used 18 smartphones.

Based on evidence gathered by counterintelligence and Security Service investigators, a Russian military intelligence agent—who was exposed by the SBU in October 2024 in Kharkiv—was sentenced to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

As a reminder, an FSB agent who was coordinating Russian attacks on energy facilities was exposed and detained in the Vinnytsia region. The woman gathered information about power generation facilities and transmitted their coordinates to the enemy.

Earlier, the SBU and the National Police foiled yet another attempt by Russian special services to destabilize the situation in Kyiv. This time, an FSB agent was detained in the center of the capital while preparing to set fire to the building of the Institute of National Memory of Ukraine.

A Russian agent operating in the Kirovohrad region was sentenced to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property. Acting on orders from the Russian Federation, the perpetrator attempted to install a GPS tracker on a special-purpose vehicle escorting convoys of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.