A Romanian national had been collecting classified data for Ukrainian intelligence, the agency has said
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained a Romanian citizen in the southern city of Sochi on suspicion of gathering intelligence for the Ukrainian special services on the deployment of Russian air defense systems.
According to an FSB statement on Friday, a Romanian national in his early 20s is accused of gathering and transmitting classified information during summer 2024 at the request of Ukrainian intelligence agencies. In exchange for his cooperation, the suspect was reportedly promised safe passage out of Russia and the opportunity to enlist in the Ukrainian Army to take part in military operations against Russia.
The FSB has not disclosed how the suspect obtained the classified data or the channels used to communicate with Ukrainian intelligence.
The detained citizen has confessed to transmitting information about a Russian air defense unit to Kiev, the agency said.
“I saw an air defense crew while traveling from Sochi to Adler – it was on the right side of the road. I remembered the intersection where I spotted it and later located it on a map. I sent that information to him [a senior intelligence officer in Ukraine named Vladimir],” the suspect said during questioning.
The FSB’s investigative department for Krasnodar Region has opened a criminal case, and an investigation is currently underway. If convicted, the suspect faces up to 20 years in prison.
The incident follows a spate of foiled attacks attributed to Ukrainian intelligence.
Earlier this week, the FSB thwarted a planned drone strike targeting a petrochemical facility in Nizhny Novgorod Region. The suspects, according to the authorities, were affiliated with an international terrorist organization outlawed in Russia. They were said to be acting under the instructions of a Ukrainian handler.
Last week, Russian law enforcement arrested a Belarusian national living in Russia on suspicion of plotting an attack on a military-linked facility in Novorossiysk, a strategic port city that hosts a major Russian naval base. The suspect, reportedly in his mid-20s, confessed to working as an agent for Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), allegedly motivated by financial gain.
