Ukraine says it uncovered 12 agents spying for Russia on F-16s, air defences
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky watching an F-16 flypast at a military event in Ukraine in August 2024.
PHOTO: PRESIDENT.GOV.UA
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KYIV - Ukraine's SBU security service said on Dec 17 it had uncovered 12 agents spying for Russia to identify the locations of F-16 fighter jets and air defence systems across Ukraine.
It detained the alleged organiser and four key accomplices on suspicion of treason and sharing information about the location of the Ukrainian military, according to a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
The network members worked separately to track down military airfields and air defence locations across five regions in Ukraine's south and north-east, as well as the addresses of companies working on electronic warfare.
Ukraine received its first long-awaited delivery of F-16 jets this summer and has been deploying them for operations within Ukraine, including for air defence during Russia's large-scale air assaults.
The network included some "deserters who left the Armed Forces units without permission and were recruited by the Russian special service while hiding from justice", the SBU said.
The network's members used acquaintances serving on the frontline in Ukraine's military who divulged information without knowing how it would be used, the intelligence service said.
They then conducted further reconnaissance near potential targets before passing information to the group's leader who in turn passed it on to a supervisor in Russia's military intelligence.
The SBU has "neutralised" the agent network and work is continuing to hold its other members accountable, it said. The charges could carry a life sentence.
An SBU source told Reuters the agency had been behind the assassination in Moscow on Dec 17 of a top Russian general
