Russia Hid Spy Cameras in Trees to Guide Deadly Strikes, Ukraine Says
Ukraine says it arrested a Russian agent who hid cameras in trees to help Moscow target military positions, while a Russian bomb-maker got 15 years for wartime treason.
Ukrainian authorities have detained a suspected Russian agent who installed concealed cameras in trees near military sites to monitor troop movements and guide missile, bomb, and drone attacks, according to the Security Service of Ukraine [201801]. The arrest took place in the Kharkiv Oblast region, where Russia has intensified strikes in recent months [201801].
In a separate case, a Ukrainian court sentenced a bomb-maker who worked for Russia’s military intelligence in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region to 15 years in prison for high treason committed under martial law [201789].
Meanwhile, Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Odesa region have killed 28 people in July alone, with attacks targeting merchant ships in the Black Sea [201531]. Officials reported that ten people were killed in the latest wave of strikes, raising concerns over maritime safety and global grain shipments [201531].
Ukraine’s SBU security service also said its Alpha unit carried out a drone strike on a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) base in a seaside resort in occupied Kherson Oblast, triggering a large fire at the facility protected by multiple checkpoints and bunkers [200617].
In other developments, a Ukrainian regiment confirmed it is aware of reports that its soldiers were captured in the eastern town of Kostiantynivka, the same unit that filmed themselves raising the Ukrainian flag after clearing the town center [200613].