SBU Reports Capturing Ukrainian Officer Leaking Special Ops Plans to Moscow

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported the detention of an agent of the GRU, Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate. The agent had been transmitting information to Moscow about Ukrainian special operations. 

A lieutenant colonel and commander of one of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SOF) units had reportedly been recruited by Russian intelligence even before the start of the full-scale invasion. 

In spring 2024, a GRU officer remotely activated the agent and tasked him with sharing plans for combat operations behind enemy lines, the SBU stated.

The Russian side was particularly interested in intelligence regarding raids by Ukrainian special forces beyond the front line in the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Crimea sectors. 

To gather this information, the suspect exploited his official position, obtaining data on Ukrainian troop movements, weaponry, and attack targets. 

According to the SBU’s press service, the Russians intended to use this information to neutralize Ukrainian special forces either on the front line or beyond it — in Russian-occupied southern territories of Ukraine. 

The agent also leaked details about other units of the Defense Forces to his Russian handler. 

The SBU’s military counterintelligence stated that they documented the actions of the traitor and detained him. Additional measures were taken to secure Ukrainian positions, it said. 

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According to the investigation, the man was recruited by Russian military intelligence through contacts there. During searches, clandestine communication devices, equipment, and data storage devices were discovered in his possession. 

He has been charged with high treason (Part 2, Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), committed under martial law. He is currently in custody and faces a potential life sentence with confiscation of property.

The detention was carried out with the support of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky and Commander of the Special Operations Forces (SSO) Oleksandr Trepak, the SBU stated.