Russian agent spying on Ukrainian Armed Forces jailed for 15 years

A court has sentenced to 15 years in prison a tactical training instructor of a public organization of the Mykolaiv region who worked for Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

That's according to the Security Service of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

It was established that under the guise of training at training grounds, the convict was spying on the bases of the personnel, military equipment and ammunition depots of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

The SBU detained the agent "red-handed" in February 2023. During the search of his apartment, firearms and ammunition were seized.

It was established during the investigation that the suspect had been in contact with pro-Kremlin blogger Sergei Lebedev, nicknamed "Lokhmaty." The latter is hiding in temporarily occupied Donetsk and works for the FSB.

The convict contacted Lebedev on his own initiative through a popular messenger and offered his help in the war against Ukraine.

To gather intelligence, the culprit organized courses in the tactical training of local residents at military training grounds. To get the necessary information, he also tried to secretly use the Ukrainian defenders whom he met during field training.

The court found the culprit guilty under Part 2 of Article 111 (treason committed under martial law) and Part 1 of Article 263 (storage of ammunition without the permission prescribed by law) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.