Woman Arrested in Odesa for Targeting Russian Airstrikes on Ukrainian Marines

Ukrainian security officials have detained a local woman from Odesa accused of aiding Russian forces by providing coordinates for airstrikes on military targets, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Office of the Prosecutor General reported.

According to the SBU, the 39-year-old suspect volunteered her services to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). She allegedly gathered and transmitted coordinates for potential missile and drone strikes in Odesa after which she planned to flee to Russia to evade prosecution.

Authorities said the woman was tasked with pinpointing the locations of Ukrainian marines, border guards, and police officers in southern Ukraine. She allegedly used walks with her six-year-old son as a cover to photograph and map potential targets.

The suspect, unemployed and reportedly “awaiting the Russian occupation of Odesa,” had expressed pro-Kremlin sentiments in social media comments, which drew the attention of the FSB. After allegedly being remotely recruited, she began collecting geolocation data on Ukraine’s defense forces.

“The agent allegedly went for a walk with her 6-year-old son and at this time photographed the buildings of potential targets and marked their coordinates on Google Maps. After “walking” with the child, the woman summarized the agent report and prepared for its transfer to her Russian handler,” the SBU report says.

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The convictions targeted members and former members of Ukraine’s Azov brigade, a unit Russia declared a “terrorist and extremist” organization in August 2022.

The prosecutor’s office said she gathered intelligence on military units, recruitment centers, and the presence of personnel and equipment, successfully relaying information on at least 10 locations to her Russian contacts.

In exchange, she was promised safe evacuation to Russia through third countries and future employment.

The woman was arrested at her home, where authorities seized a phone and tablet containing encrypted messages to and from the FSB. She has been charged with treason and faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property. She remains in custody pending further legal proceedings.