Security Service of Ukraine unmasks Russian asset who recruited prisoners to help sabotage groups infiltrate Kharkiv

The Security Service of Ukraine has uncovered a prisoner who, on orders from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), formed a "support group" of other inmates to help Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups break through into Kharkiv.

Source: SSU

Details: The investigation found that the prisoner was recruited by the FSB while serving a sentence that had begun in 2012 in the temporarily occupied part of Luhansk Oblast. Before Russia's full-scale invasion, he was transferred to a correctional facility in Kharkiv Oblast, as a resident of the Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Directed by Russian intelligence, the man reportedly recruited other inmates who were nearing the end of their sentences. Upon their release, they were to disperse throughout Kharkiv and nearby border villages to establish the geolocations of Ukrainian checkpoints and fortifications.

The Russians also wanted their informants to provide coordinates of key infrastructure facilities, along with up-to-date reports on the facilities’ security systems.

According to the investigation, the Russians needed this intelligence to prepare for sabotage raids in the oblast’s frontline areas, bypassing Ukrainian military defensive lines. 

However, the Security Service thwarted the Russians' plans and exposed the Russian asset, who has been served with a notice of suspicion of treason by law enforcement officials.

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