Selfie fan: Russian collaborator detained in Kharkiv
(facebook com ssu mariupol)
Ukraine's Security Service (SSU) has detained a spy in Kharkiv who was gathering intelligence by posing as a tourist taking selfies near strategic sites, according to the SSU.
"The Security Service has detained another Russian informant who was adjusting Russian air strikes on Kharkiv," the report states.
According to the authorities, it was her coordinates that guided aggressors to carry out a missile strike on local energy industry facilities in Ukraine in the summer of 2022.
"To correct the enemy's attack, the suspect took a selfie in front of the industrial object with a reference to the location and sent the photo to the aggressor," the SSU added.
The perpetrator turned out to be an employee of the affected enterprise who was recruited by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSS) during her trip to Moscow before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24 of the previous year.
After February 24, she was contacted by a representative of the Russian special services and tasked with providing him with the geolocation of Ukrainian defenders and critical infrastructure in the city. They used a popular messaging app for communication, and for added security, the woman frequently changed her mobile phones.
Selfies as a cover
To transmit the coordinates of Ukrainian objects, the suspect took selfies in front of them, sent the photos to the Russian FSS, and immediately deleted the images from her phone.
To conceal her subversive activities in favor of the FSS, she actively posted comments on social media where she openly criticized Russia's military and political leadership.
However, SSU operatives apprehended the spy while she was carrying out a new hostile reconnaissance task. Currently, the Security Service has informed the detainee of the charges against her, and she is in custody. She faces up to 12 years in prison.
Arrests of Russian agents in Kharkiv
Law enforcement agencies in Kharkiv have been consistently arresting enemy agents. At the end of June, a Russian spy network was exposed in Kharkiv. Traitors provided information on enemy missiles and disclosed the movements of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to the occupiers.
Additionally, the SSU uncovered subversive activities by two supporters of "Ruscism" in Kyiv and the Kharkiv region who were justifying Russian aggression against Ukraine.
