Ukraine Already Uncovers 11 Spy Cells This Year: Ukrainian Intelligence

Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said the agency has identified 11 spy cells working for Russia so far this year, where some of the agents were former law enforcement officers and employees of state enterprises.

“In total, in 2023, the SBU exposed 47 intelligence networks, all the scoundrels were arrested, and since the beginning of this year, another 11 have been exposed," said Maliuk during a speech at the Congress of Local and Regional Councils under the President of Ukraine.

An official SBU press release named some of the espionage activities the agency managed to prevent, such as the infiltration of critical infrastructure (including cyberspace), identification of Western aid deliveries and relaying the locations of military installations.

“For example, the SBU recently detained a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agent in Dnipro, who was taking photos and videos of the local thermal power plant (TPP) and preparing enemy missile strikes, a former policeman in Zaporizhzhia who was monitoring military equipment facilities, as well as several employees of [Ukrainian state-owned railway] Ukrzaliznytsia who provided information to the enemy about the logistics of moving weapons and equipment damage,” read the press release.

During his speech, Maliuk also provided various figures on the SBU’s work since the beginning of this year, which included 352 criminal proceedings for treason (98 persons were convicted), 807 for collaborative activity (177 convicted), 108 for aiding Russia (7 convicted) and 66 for passing information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to Russia (19 people were convicted).

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On April 10, sources within the SBU told Kyiv Post that Maliuk became the Kremlin’s primary target, who was planning to blame the SBU chief for orchestrating the attack on Crocus City Hall.