Former athlete and FSB agent sentenced to 15 years for espionage
Read NV on Google
A former athlete-turned-FSB agent has been
sentenced to 15 years in prison for spying
on Russia’s behalf in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine’s SBU security service
reported via Telegram on Nov. 17.
According to the SBU, the perpetrator was identified as a local track and field coach. He was surveilling locations of Ukrainian troops and their movement routes. During his runs, he covertly carried out photo and video recording, using a camera on his mobile phone which he strapped to his arm.
Among the runner’s primary tasks was to relay locations of heavy Ukrainian weaponry and ammunition depots. Additionally, the Russian agent developed a topographic map for the invaders, marking the coordinates of Ukrainian checkpoints along the region's main roads.
The intelligence was necessary for the Russian military to plan air strikes and possible sabotage operations. SBU’s counterintelligence operatives apprehended the traitor while he was covertly photographing a local railway facility.
The court sentenced him to 15 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. The investigation found that the 55-year-old coach had been remotely recruited by FSB in March 2022.
He became a target for recruitment as a former graduate of Leningrad military academy, where he studied during the Soviet era, and subsequently served in the Russian Taman Division until 1992. Later, he left military service and moved to Ukraine.
For each completed task, the offender received financial rewards from Russia, which were transferred to his bank card.
The military war may be swinging in our favor, but the information war continues.
Just as an army needs soldiers, so does a free society need its journalists to ensure that people have access to honest, trustworthy voices to understand the world around them.
For the past five years, The New Voice of Ukraine has been working tirelessly to push back against Russian narratives and defend democracy. But we cannot do it alone.
Please consider supporting us on Patreon for just $5 a month – your donation does directly to supporting journalists and ensuring that this front of the infowar says solid and defended.
Thank you.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
