On July 30, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) arrested an air force officer accused of spying for foreign countries. The officer is believed to have leaked the positions of strategic fighter jets, including the F-16 and Mirage 2000.
An unnamed officer, a flight guide with the rank of major, was accused of assisting the Russian military in carrying out airstrikes. This person provided coordinates and suggested attack tactics, according to SBU.
The agency said that in addition to the coordinates of locations, schedules and launch routes of the aircraft, the spies also transferred data on the personnel of the Ukrainian Air Force and combat tactics to the Russian military intelligence.
The SBU has repeatedly dismantled similar spying rings, with a wide range of suspects, from domestic and foreigners to senior officials.
On May 9, SBU said it had discovered a spying network believed to be run by the Hungarian state, which collects intelligence on Kiev's defense system.
Both suspects involved in the spiel organization have been arrested. This is the first time in history that Ukraine has discovered a Hungarian spiel ring operating against the interests of Kiev.
At the end of last year, even the head of Kiev's Anti-terrorism Center was arrested by SBU Director Vasyl Malyuk on charges of spying and disclosing Ukrainian national secrets.
To gather evidence of a leak of top-secret information to Moscow, SBU has quietly penetrated all of the suspect's digital devices and conducted 24/7 monitoring. "We almost have to live with him. That is how we recorded the entire process of him transferring information to the Russian people" - Mr. Malyuk stated.
In an interview earlier this year, Mr. Oleh Kolesnikov, a 52-year-old Ukrainian citizen who used to be a spy for Russia, said he supported the concept of "Russian World" - a theory approved by President Vladimir Putin, emphasizing the historical and cultural relationship between Russia and neighboring countries.
Kolesnikov insists he was not a money spy and is currently being held in Zaporizhzhia for treason.
