Russian agent caught plotting airstrike on key Ukrainian TPP

According to Ukrinform, the SSU press center reported this.

Based on information from SSU cyber specialists and investigators, the task was carried out by a recruited resident of the Chuhuiv district who had previously worked as an electric welder at the plant.

He came to the attention of Russian intelligence services after posting pro-Kremlin comments in Telegram channel chats.

It was established that the suspect received instructions from a handler in Russia to determine the plant’s technical condition and the results of repair work following earlier shelling by Russian forces.

He was also tasked with surveying the surrounding area, in particular to find out whether air defense systems protecting the strategic facility were present.

The report notes that he gathered the relevant information while reconnoitering the area near the facility and through conversations with acquaintances.

SSU officers acted preemptively and detained the suspect at the early stage of his espionage activity in the region.

During searches, a smartphone was seized from the detainee, on which he stored the information collected for the Russians.

SSU investigators have now served the suspect with a notice of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 114-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (unauthorized dissemination of information about the movement or location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the possibility of identifying them on the ground, committed under martial law).

The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the crime and to determine whether additional charges should be filed.

The suspect is being held in custody without the possibility of bail. He faces up to eight years in prison.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, in the Khmelnytskyi region a court sentenced an agent of Russia’s FSB to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property for passing information about air defense positions in western Ukraine to the enemy.