Russian security officials have detained a Ukrainian citizen for allegedly spying on Russian troops in the Luhansk region, Russian news agency TASS has reported.
Federal Security Service (FSB) officers detained the individual for allegedly transmitting “data on Russian servicemen and the socio-economic situation in the region” to the Ukrainian Security Service (SSU).
According to a statement from the FSB reported by TASS, the suspect is accused of collecting and relaying critical data that could potentially compromise Russian military operations.
The FSB did not disclose the identity of the suspect or provide any further information.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry and the Office of President Volodymyr Zelensky for comment.
Mark Galeotti, a senior associate fellow professor at London-based think tank the Royal United Services Institute told Newsweek both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war have been stepping up their efforts to “gather whatever information they can.”
These involve all kinds of “classic espionage tactics, human intelligence, suborning or recruiting agents” to pass on information, he said.
“Electronic intelligence gathering tapping into the other side’s communications, or the rather more kind of obscure satellite intelligence gathering with photography, or just simply tracking locations of sources of heat,” are also being used,” Galeotti said.
“It’s a bewildering array of intelligence tactics. At a time of war, espionage becomes all that much more important,” he said. “Both the Russians and the Ukrainians have been sort of stepping up their campaigns as much as possible to gather whatever information they can.
“Information is crucial, especially in the modern age. With precision-guided systems, there’s something of a kind of cliche; if we can see it, we can kill it. Intelligence is one of the ways in which you get to see the things that you can’t otherwise see.”
In August, the SSU detained a police officer accused of spying for Russia.
The SSU said it had dismantled a Russian intelligence network working for the FSB that was operating in the Mykolaiv region, according to a post published on Telegram.
Ukrainian officials claimed the suspect recruited his father, who is a former police officer, for “reconnaissance and subversive activities.”
Also in August, it was reported that a suspected Russian spy was arrested by the SSU in Donetsk Oblast for allegedly gathering intelligence about Ukrainian military movements.
Meanwhile, Zelensky has warned the situation on the front lines of combat against the Kremlin’s troops is “very, very difficult.”
“Reports on each of our front-line sectors, our capabilities, our future capabilities, and our specific tasks: The situation is very, very difficult,” he said in a video address.
Russia is intensifying its military recruitment efforts ahead of the winter, which could worsen ground conditions. The country has ordered an autumn draft campaign in a bid to enlist 133,000 new servicemen.
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