The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained two Ukrainian men accused of helping Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) plan missile strikes on military installations and communications infrastructure including the Kyiv TV tower, the service said on March 27.
As a result of a “special operation,” one 24-year-old man was arrested in Kyiv and the other in Odesa, the SBU said in a post on Telegram.
“They were preparing missile strikes on military units of the Defense Forces and energy and telecommunications facilities in the three regions,” the post read.
One of the men was allegedly tasked with identifying the locations of Ukrainian Armed Forces bases and took a job as a freight forwarder in an Odesa company that supplies food to units of the military in order to obtain information.
The other was allegedly collecting information about the condition of the Kyiv TV tower following a Russian strike on it in March 2022 and also photographed one of the capital’s thermal power plants.
“At the final stage of the special operation, both criminals were caught red-handed when they were spying on potential ‘targets’ for the occupiers,” the SBU said.
The SBU alleges that both men were recruited by the FSB at the end of January.
Both have been charged under Part 2 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and face life imprisonment if found guilty.
Nate Ostiller
