Russia arrests army staffer suspected of spying for Ukraine

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The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested an employee of a military unit in southern Russia for allegedly spying for Ukraine.

According to a report issued by the FSB in the Rostov region, the woman was already in contact with the Ukrainian side when she joined a unit in the Southern Military District in January 2023.

“She collected information of various kinds about the arsenals, bases and warehouses that are part of the district,” the FSB was quoted saying in the statement, Russian state news agency TASS reported Tuesday.

The arrest comes one week after Ukrainian troops launched a surprise offensive into Russian territory last Tuesday, pushing into parts of the southern Kursk region, before expanding the campaign to the neighboring Belgorod region.

According to the FSB report, the woman had contacted representatives of Ukraine’s military intelligence through the Signal messaging app, which was recently blocked in Russia for alleged “violations” of the country’s legislation.

“She handed over the collected data to a foreign intelligence service during correspondence in the messenger,” the FSB statement continued.

The Russian authorities did not disclose the woman’s identity who, they say, is now being detained on charges of high treason.

On Monday, Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi claimed that the Kyiv’s forces had gained control of 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory, marking the biggest incursion since the start of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion in 2022.