SBU Detains Suspected Traitor Helping Russians Bomb Kraken Special Forces Base

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained a suspected traitor in Kharkiv who intended to relay coordinates to Russians for launching aerial bombs on a base of the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), the SBU’s Telegram channel reported today.

According to the investigation, the detainee attempted to identify the locations of the Kraken special unit. The Russians planned to use ballistic missiles and guided aerial bombs of the KAB-500 type for the attack.

“To direct them to the target, the enemy adjuster engaged in an encrypted communication session with his supervisor from Russian intelligence and provided him with the coordinates,” the SBU reported.

The adjuster was apprehended in his apartment, and the mobile phone he used to communicate with Russian handlers was seized.

The detainee was revealed to be a resident described by the SBU as an “ideological supporter of rasscism [pejorative term for Russian imperial philosophy].” In early April of this year, the Russians recruited him through social networks, where he had posted anti-Ukrainian comments.

In addition to surveillance in the city, the detainee clandestinely interrogated customers of the local shopping and entertainment center for the required information.

The detainee was formally charged for unauthorized dissemination of information about the movement or location of the Armed Forces. He faces up to eight years in prison.

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‘The Worst Thing Would Be to Be Captured Again’: Released Civilian POW

Journalist and former activist Volodymyr Fomichov told the Kyiv Post about the horrors of Russian captivity, the difficulties of returning to civilian life, and his attempts to volunteer to serve.

Earlier, the SBU exposed two Ukrainians recruited by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to coordinate missile strikes on Ukraine and bury the remains of Russian soldiers killed near Kyiv.

In February, the SBU announced the “neutralization” of an espionage network and the detention of five former and serving Ukrainian intelligence officers spying for Russia’s FSB.

In an October 2023 comment to Kyiv Post, the SBU’s press service stated that their primary objective is to “operate in a manner that aims to uncover spies at the preparation stage of their crimes, preventing them from carrying out their assigned tasks.”

The SBU employs various methods for collecting and analyzing information, “ranging from monitoring open sources and utilizing our operational sources to obtaining testimony from previously exposed spies,” the press service told Kyiv Post.

Kyiv Post also sought insights regarding the motives of those who collaborate with the Russians. However, the special SBU representatives disclosed that crafting a generalized “portrait” of collaborators can be challenging, as they can be individuals of varying ages and social statuses.

“Russian special services primarily target two categories of individuals for their purposes: those who support the ‘Russian world’ and work for financial gain or the promise of positions within occupation administrations, and individuals who can be coerced through blackmail and threats,” the SBU’s press service told Kyiv Post.