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Two people arrested in Mykolaiv as Ukraine breaks up Russian spy ring, SBU says

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has announced the dismantling of a Russian spy network operating in Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts. The network, which included current and former police officers, was reportedly engaged in collecting intelligence on the Ukrainian Defense Forces and important critical infrastructure objects.

In the wake of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia's espionage and sabotage activities in Ukraine are increasing. The SBU secret service regularly reports arrests of suspected spies and saboteurs.

According to the SBU, a special operation in Mykolaiv resulted in the arrest of two men whose activities were coordinated by both the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and military intelligence. One of the detainees is a local police officer who was in contact with the head of the Russian spy group, Andriy Shevchenko, a former officer of the disbanded police force “Militsiya”. Before its reform in 2015, the Ukrainian National Police was called militia after the Soviet-era police.

According to the SBU, the arrested officer collected data on the locations and movements of units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Mykolaiv Oblast. He also reportedly tried to identify the locations of strategic defense industry enterprises and reported to the Russians on personnel decisions in law enforcement agencies.

The Russian spy network reportedly included the father of one of the suspects, a Mykolaiv resident and former militiaman. According to the SBU, the coordinates he provided were used by Russian forces for a repeated attack on an energy facility in the Carpathian region.

During searches of the detainees' premises, police officers confiscated mobile phones, computers, military registration documents and documents allegedly containing evidence of crimes. Russian symbols and rubles were also found.

The Prosecutor General's Office announced that the three suspects are accused of high treason under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code. If convicted, they face life imprisonment with confiscation of their property. The two detainees are currently in pre-trial detention.

In addition, the head of the spy group, who is currently in the temporarily occupied Crimea, was charged in absentia with the same offense.

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