The Security Service of Ukraine, together with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, prevented an assassination attempt on the commander of one of the brigades of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to investigators, Russian special services planned to eliminate the Ukrainian officer with a missile strike.
This was reported on Thursday, November 12, by the SBU press service.
During a counterintelligence operation in Mykolaiv, a serviceman was detained who, according to investigators, was cooperating with the Russian FSB and preparing the assassination of the brigade commander. The operation was carried out by military counterintelligence officers of the SBU together with the Main Intelligence Directorate with the assistance of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The investigation established that the suspect was supposed to provide the Russian special services with information about the location of the Ukrainian commander. The enemy planned to use this information to launch a missile strike.
Ukrainian special services identified the alleged agent in advance and took measures to protect servicemen. The suspect was detained on the territory of a military unit.
During the detention, a smartphone was seized from the man, which, according to the SBU, contained messages to a Russian handler related to the preparation of the attack.
According to the investigation, the Russian FSB recruited the serviceman through Telegram. The man came to the attention of Russian special services while seeking acquaintances and intimate relationships in thematic channels of the messenger.
After recruitment, he maintained contact with an FSB representative via an anonymous chat. Using his service position as a driver, the suspect, according to law enforcement, collected information about the command staff of the Ukrainian military formation.
Additionally, investigators state that the man passed other information about the activities of the units of the Defense Forces to the Russian side. These materials could be used by the enemy to plan attacks on Ukrainian servicemen.
SBU investigators notified the detainee of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — high treason committed under martial law.
The court imposed a pre-trial restraint on the suspect in the form of detention without the right to post bail. If proven guilty, he faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The investigation is being conducted under the procedural supervision of the Mykolaiv Specialized Defense Prosecutor's Office of the Southern Region. Notably, the official notice of suspicion specifies the article on high treason, rather than a separate charge of preparing a murder.
