Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has announced the dismantling of a Russian espionage network operating in the Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts. The network, which included current and former law enforcement officers, was reportedly engaged in gathering intelligence on Ukraine’s defense forces and key critical infrastructure objects.

According to the SBU, a special operation in Mykolaiv resulted in the arrest of two men whose activities were coordinated by both the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and military intelligence. One of the detainees is a local law enforcement officer who has been in contact with the head of the Russian agent group, Andrii Shevchenko, a former officer of the disbanded “militsiya” police force. Before it was reformed in 2015, Ukraine’s National Police was called militsiya after the Soviet-times police.

The SBU reports that the arrested officer collected data on the locations and movements of Ukrainian Armed Forces units in Mykolaiv Oblast. He reportedly also attempted to identify the locations of strategic defense industry enterprises and reported to the Russians about personnel decisions in law enforcement agencies.

The Russian agent network also reportedly involved the father of one of the suspects, a Mykolaiv resident and former militsia officer. The SBU claims that the coordinates he provided were used by the Russian forces to carry out a repeated attack on an energy facility in the Carpathian region.

During searches of the detainees’ premises, law enforcement officers seized mobile phones, computers, draft notes, and documents reportedly containing evidence of crimes. Russian symbols and rubles were also found.

The Prosecutor General’s Office reported that the three suspects have been charged with treason under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. If convicted, they face life imprisonment with confiscation of property. The two arrested individuals are currently in custody.

Additionally, the head of the agent group, who is currently in the temporarily occupied Crimea, has been charged in absentia with the same offense.

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