Ukraine Arrests Suspected Russian Spy In Donetsk

A suspected Russian spy was arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) in
the Donetsk oblast for allegedly gathering intelligence about Ukrainian military movements.

The woman walked around the front lines to record the locations of Ukrainian troops, according to a statement published on Telegram by the service.

She also "secretly" extracted information from locals during conversations with residents of nearby villages, it said.

The woman, a resident of Novohrodivka in Donetsk oblast in eastern Ukraine, was detained in her own home.

She is under the custody of Ukrainian forces and faces up to 8 years in prison if convicted.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry and Ukrainian security service for comment.

The suspected informant allegedly passed on information concerning the locations of the defensive lines of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Pokrovsk area.

During a raid on the suspect's home, authorities seized a mobile phone used for "reconnaissance and subversion."

The woman was allegedly recruited in June this year through Telegram, where she was said to have leaked the locations of Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian intelligence officials released screenshots of messages that they said she exchanged with Russian officials.

A photo posted on Telegram shows the suspect in custody between two Ukrainian soldiers after she was apprehended.

The SSU said in the post on Telegram: "The enemy was interested in the coordinates of fortifications and combat positions of artillery, which keeps the assault groups of the occupiers under fire control. She sent the received information to Russian intelligence via a messenger through a 'liaison'—a militant of the Russian occupation group fighting on the eastern front."

Victoria Vdovychenko, program director for security studies at the University of Cambridge's Centre for Geopolitics, told Newsweek that the use of espionage is "common" practice during conflicts.

"It's a very common thing during wartime in any context and since the start of mankind. People try to use information as a weapon to provide to the other side," she said.

The arrest comes amid a major cross-border incursion launched by Kyiv in a surprise attack.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine was trying to "improve" its negotiating power.

"Apparently, the enemy seeks to improve its negotiating positions in the future. But what kind of negotiations can we even talk about with people who indiscriminately conduct strikes at civilians and civilian infrastructure or try to create threats to nuclear power facilities," Putin said at a meeting with his top security and defense officials.

It comes as NATO members Germany and Sweden scrambled fighter jets over the weekend to intercept a Russian spy plane that failed to respond.

Last month in July, it was revealed Russia was plotting to sow "panic and terror" in the West through disinformation campaigns.

In February, the Ukrainian security service said it dismantled a Russian intelligence network that was operating in several Ukrainian regions.

The spy network, which was working for Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), included former and current officials of Ukraine's security services.

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