According to the SBU, one of the suspects is a local unemployed woman who was acting on orders from Russia's FSB and was reportedly awaiting the occupation of the city, Ukrinform reports.
"To recruit this agent, Russian intelligence operatives used her son — a militant fighting against Ukraine on the eastern front as part of Russian occupation forces. The woman's main task was to locate backup command posts and fortified positions of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the area around the frontline city," the statement said.
She also relayed information to Russian forces about the impact and aftermath of previous strikes.
The second agent, also a local resident, was working for Russia's military intelligence agency (commonly known as the GRU). She was first noticed by the aggressor's services due to her anti-Ukrainian posts in a pro-Kremlin group on the Russian social network Odnoklassniki.
There, she was approached by the group's administrator — a career GRU officer — who offered her money in exchange for cooperation.
Acting on his instructions, she walked around frontline areas, identifying locations of Ukrainian troop deployments and marking their coordinates on Google Maps.
Read also: Russian agent detained in Kharkiv for assembling explosive devices for terrorist attacksSBU investigators have officially charged both suspects under the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including Part 2 of Article 111 (high treason committed under martial law) and Parts 1 and 2 of Article 436-2 (justifying, recognizing as lawful, or denying Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, and glorifying its participants).
Both women have been taken into custody without the possibility of bail. If convicted, they face life imprisonment and confiscation of property.
Photo credit: SBU
