Law enforcement officers eliminated an agent cell of the Russian Federation's special services, which included employees of Ukrzaliznytsia and the Kyiv Metro.
Points of attention
- Two Russian FSB agents, who infiltrated Ukrzaliznytsia and the Kyiv Metro, were detained in Kyiv and charged with treason and justifying Russian armed aggression against Ukraine.
- The agents were preparing to carry out sabotage actions and coordinate missile strikes on Kyiv, as documented by Ukrainian law enforcement officers.
- The head of the agent cell, a current engineer of the Kyiv Metro, recruited accomplices and orchestrated the collection of intelligence on Ukrainian troops and infrastructure, leading to intercepted conversations confirming personal involvement in missile strikes.
- The captured arsenal of weapons, ammunition, explosives, and communication equipment highlights the seriousness of the threat posed by the FSB agents.
- Family members of the suspects were also implicated in the activities of the intelligence group, further emphasizing the extent of the infiltration and potential threat to Ukrainian national security.
FSB agents detained in Kyiv
Under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General's Office, two citizens were notified of suspicion of high treason and justification, recognition as lawful, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation (Part 2 of Article 111, Part 3 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
According to the investigation, two Ukrainian citizens — employees of Ukrzaliznytsia and the metro — were recruited by a representative of the Federal Security Service of the Kaliningrad region in 2014. Until 2022, the suspects secretly provided him with information about the movement of rolling stock of trains with cargoes of interest to the Russian Federation.
After a full-scale invasion, they provided their supervisor with information about the movements of Ukrainian Armed Forces units, information about the consequences of hits on urban infrastructure, and also prepared to carry out sabotage actions on the instructions of the FSB.
As a result of a series of searches, law enforcement officers seized an arsenal of weapons, ammunition, explosives, communication equipment, and computer equipment used to communicate with the curator from the suspects.
During the documentation of the crime, facts of justification of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and glorification of its participants by the defendants and their close associates were also established. The brother of one of the suspects was detained and reported on suspicion under Part 3 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the mother was served with a notice of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The issue of whether the suspect should be placed in custody as a preventive measure is currently being decided.
The Fate of a Resident: How the FSB Recruits Agents
According to the SBU, it was established that the resident (head) of the enemy cell was a current engineer of the Kyiv Metro utility company.
According to the case materials, the official was recruited in 2015 in Moscow during a personal meeting with an FSB personnel officer. His identity has already been established by cyber specialists of the Security Service.
The recruited agent was put on "standby" and "uncanned" after a full-scale war broke out via a messenger message.
He immediately received instructions to create an intelligence network. The task of this group was to collect information about the locations and routes of movement of Ukrainian troops and their cargo, as well as to direct rocket and drone attacks by the Russians against them.
The resident recruited his acquaintances to work for the enemy: a Kharkiv resident who left the military unit after mobilization and had previously worked for Ukrzaliznytsia for 10 years, and a driver of international trucking. The deserter's task was to monitor the movement of military echelons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the driver's task was to provide coordinates of checkpoints and Defense Forces units under the guise of business trips.
In addition, it was established that the brother and mother of the person involved were involved in the activities of the intelligence group.
The head of the intelligence group received geolocations from his henchmen, summarized them, and transmitted reports to his Russian supervisor. According to the investigation, the resident personally launched missile strikes on Kyiv, which is confirmed by his intercepted conversations.
SBU officers documented the crimes of Russian agents and detained their resident in Kyiv. At the same time, a defector agent was detained in Kharkiv.
During the searches, mobile phones with evidence of work in the Russian Federation were seized from the suspects. Firearms were also found, which were handed over for examination.
The issue of whether the suspect should be placed in custody as a preventive measure is currently being decided.
