Kharkiv banker arrested over spying for Russian intelligence

Source: Ukraine’s Security Service

Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, said on Wednesday it has arrested a bank employee in Kharkiv over alleged espionage.

The detained individual was working as an accomplice to another Russian spy, who had been arrested by the SBU in July.

Investigation found that the suspect, who worked as a bank manager, was tasked by his Russian handlers to snoop on Ukrainian defense locations around Kharkiv. Traveling on his car around the city suburbs, the man secretly filmed the military sites on his phone.

He had also collected information on the scenes of Russian airstrikes on Kharkiv, and later handed it over to his Russian handlers during  personal meetings and through encrypted messaging apps.

During the search of his residencs, the SBU operatives seized a mobile phone he used for his spying operations.

The man is now facing treason and espionage charged under Art. 111, 114 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.