The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained a lawyer from Dnipro suspected of aiding Russian missile strikes against the city and then attempting to flee the country, the SBU said on Jan. 22.
The agency did not reveal the suspect's identity but described him as a "well-known local lawyer" and one of the most "deeply undercover FSB (Russia's Federal Security Service) agents in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast."
The man, detained while allegedly attempting to flee across the Polish border at the Krakivets checkpoint, was accused of providing Russia with coordinates for a strike that killed six people and seriously injured 30 in Dnipro on Dec. 29, 2023.
The attack damaged a shopping center, a maternity hospital, a house, administrative buildings, and at least two dozen high-rise buildings.
The suspect is said to have provided Russia with coordinates for a local enterprise, workshops, and drone warehouses to help "inflict maximum damage." He then passed information on the consequences of the attack and provided coordinates for another strategic facility in Dnipro, according to the SBU.
The lawyer maintained contact with a senior member of the Russian occupation administration in Crimea and with FSB officers, Ukrainian prosecutors said. The suspect was charged with treason and justifying Russian aggression and faces life in prison.
Dnipro is the regional center of the central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and Ukraine's fourth-largest city, serving as an important logistics and medical hub for the front since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion. Multiple deadly drone and missile strikes have targeted the city since 2022.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
