Ukraine arrests army officer accused of spying for Russia

Ukraine said Friday it had arrested an army officer accused of passing information about secret military operations to Russia.

The SBU security services said the accused, a lieutenant colonel, was recruited by Russia before its 2022 invasion and “activated” earlier this year “to pass on plans for the Defence Forces’ combat operations behind enemy lines.”

The officer, a commander of a unit in Ukraine’s special operations forces, faces life in prison on the charge of “high treason”.

Since Russia invaded in 2022, both Kyiv and Moscow have arrested several citizens they accuse of spying for the other side, including for allegedly passing on information about military sites or troop movements.

But the arrest of a commanding army officer, privy to highly sensitive information on special combat operations, is much rarer.

“The aggressor was most interested in intelligence on sabotage and reconnaissance raids by Ukrainian special forces behind the front line in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea,” the SBU said in a statement.

Russia has occupied the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea since 2014, and partly seized the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson region since its 2022 invasion.

Russians planned to use the information provided by the “mole” to “eliminate Ukrainian special forces on the front line or beyond it,” the SBU said.

Investigators said they had seized “means of covert communication” — electronic devices — from the suspect during a search.

The arrest comes amid growing concerns in Ukraine about a possible renewed Russian offensive on the southern Zaporizhzhia front, and as Moscow’s forces continue to make gains in the eastern Donetsk region.