The security service detained two FSB agents in Kharkiv. They turned out to be a local psychotherapist and his accomplice, a deacon of the Kharkiv diocese of the UOC (MP), who were spying in the frontline city.
Points of attention
- A deacon and a psychotherapist in Kharkiv were detained for spying on Ukrainian defense forces in collaboration with the FSB.
- The perpetrators used various channels, including military psychological rehabilitation and eparchy, to gather intelligence on Ukrainian defenders and their activities in the frontline city.
- The doctor involved military personnel undergoing psychological rehabilitation in their espionage activities, while the deacon covertly gathered information from parishioners.
- Despite their elaborate measures of conspiracy, including using separate phones and SIM cards, the security service managed to document their crimes and apprehend them.
- The detained individuals now face serious charges under the Criminal Code of Ukraine and could potentially be sentenced to life in prison with property confiscation.
A deacon of the ROC MP and a psychotherapist spied for the FSB in Kharkiv
It was established that the attackers were trying to identify the locations of the largest concentration of personnel and military equipment of the Defense Forces.
They also collected personal data of Ukrainian defenders and their travel routes in the regional center.
To obtain intelligence, the doctor "secretly" used his patients, including military personnel undergoing psychological rehabilitation after performing combat missions at the front.
He involved his close acquaintance, the deacon of the local cathedral of the Kharkiv diocese of the UOC (MP), in cooperation with the FSB.
According to the case materials, the cleric covertly asked parishioners for "necessary" information.
He reported the information he received to the doctor, who summarized the "report" and sent it by messenger to his Russian curator.
To communicate with the FSB, the agent used a separate phone and SIM card, which he hid in a mailbox in the entrance of his house.
However, such measures of conspiracy did not help them. The security service documented the crimes of both suspects and detained them at their places of residence.
According to the SBU counterintelligence, the detained doctor had been in the status of a "sleeper agent" of the FSB for some time.
In the spring of 2024, the Russian special services remotely “activated” it to carry out subversive activities in Kharkiv.
During the searches, mobile phones and computer equipment containing evidence of cooperation with the FSB were seized from the detainees.
SBU investigators informed the agents about the suspicion of crimes committed under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 111 (high treason committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons under martial law);
Part 1 of Article 436-2 (justification of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants).
The perpetrators are currently being held without bail and face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
