FSB agent who prepared assassination attempt on SSO officers in Sumy region receives 15 years in prison – SBU

Based on the evidence base of counterintelligence and investigators of the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), an FSB agent detained in November 2022 in the border area of the Sumy region has been sentenced to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property, the SBU press service reports.

"As the investigation established, he, along with an accomplice, prepared diversions against officers of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who were performing combat missions in the northeastern direction. According to the case materials, the perpetrators tried to track the locations of Ukrainian warriors and their movement routes in the region. Furthermore, the agent received coordinates of a cache from the FSB from which he was to retrieve combat grenades and anti-tank mines to commit diversions," a message in the Telegram channel states.

SBU employees acted ahead of time and detained the individual in a forest near the ammunition cache.

According to the investigation, the convict is a local handyman recruited by the FSB. He came to the attention of the Russian special service when he published pro-Kremlin comments in Telegram channel chats. Subsequently, the agent involved an acquaintance in the cooperation, with whom they spied on Ukrainian warriors and identified concentration areas of Defense Forces units.

"Based on SBU materials, the court found the agent guilty under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 2 of Article 111 (high treason committed under martial law); Part 1 of Article 14, Part 2 of Article 113 (preparation for committing a diversion under martial law)," the SBU noted.

The investigation was conducted by SBU employees in the Sumy region under the procedural guidance of the regional prosecutor’s office.