Ukrainian Security Service Arrests Spy Recruited Through Dating App for Russian Strikes

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has detained another FSB agent in the Dnipropetrovsk region, accusing him of directing Russian artillery strikes and drone attacks on the frontline city of Nikopol.

According to investigators on November 27, the suspect is a 42-year-old unemployed local resident who had been hiding from mobilization. He was recruited by Russian intelligence through a dating website after coming into contact with a woman who identified herself as a “freelance employee” of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and claimed to live in occupied Kakhovka. Gaining his trust through manipulation, she then passed him on to a full-time FSB officer.

After recruitment, the agent received detailed instructions to spy on Ukrainian forces defending Nikopol. He moved around the city while avoiding checkpoints, covertly collecting information on the positions and movements of the Defense Forces. He immediately forwarded all gathered intelligence to his FSB handler.

The SBU says Russia planned to deliver an improvised explosive device to the agent using an FPV drone, preparing him to carry out a terrorist attack in the Dnipropetrovsk region. However, SBU counterintelligence officers identified him in advance, documented his activities, and arrested him at his home. Additional security measures were taken to protect Ukrainian military locations.

During the search, officers seized a smartphone containing evidence of his cooperation with Russia. SBU investigators have formally charged him under Article 111(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — high treason committed under martial law. He has been placed in custody with no possibility of bail and faces a potential life sentence with property confiscation.

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The operation was carried out by SBU officers in the Dnipropetrovsk region under the procedural supervision of the regional prosecutor’s office.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Security Service reported a new Russian war crime in the Donetsk region, stating that Russian forces used civilians as human shields during a recent attack on Pokrovsk.

According to findings, Russian troops tried to push into the city by moving through its southeastern outskirts, deliberately positioning local residents in front of them to reduce the risk of Ukrainian forces returning fire.

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