The Security Service of Ukraine detained a Russian couple who were working for the Russian special services.

They were collecting data on the location and movement of the air defense forces units in the Odesa region.

The press service of the SSU reported this.

Employees of the Security Service of Ukraine exposed the agents at the initial stages of their work.

Both detainees are citizens of the Russian Federation. The man was born in Odesa but later served in the Russian military and participated in hostilities on the territory of Chechnya.

The couple moved to Ukraine in 2018 and received residence permits.

The SSU emphasizes that in this way, the Russian GRU was planning to set up its own intelligence apparatus in the southern part of Ukraine.

“Prior to the full-scale invasion, the family of agents was collecting data on the socio-political situation in the region and expanding the network of acquaintances, preparing to perform the main tasks,” the SSU reported.

It is noted that Russian agents were trying to identify the positions of the Crotale air defense system and the location of artillery depots with ammunition for anti-aircraft missile systems.

The received information was to be used to carry out airstrikes with Kalibr or Kinzhal missiles.

The agents also started actively gathering information about units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine in the Kherson area.

“The agents shared the collected information with a “liaison” – a resident of Sevastopol, a former Russian special agent, who is secretly cooperating with the GRU, and uses the head of a charity fund position as a “cover”. He passed on the information to his curator – a staff member of the Russian military intelligence,” the SSU reported.

Currently, the investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine informed the detainees about the suspicion of Art. 114 (Espionage) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. They were remanded in custody.

As previously reported, Sébastien Lecornu, French Minister of Defense, shared that France handed over two battalions worth of the Crotale air defense system to Ukraine. At the same time, there were no official reports about the receipt of this weapon by Ukraine.