Employees of the Melitopol State Bureau of Investigation found a Russian pilot in Zaporizhzhia who could be engaged in espionage.
This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation press service.
He was exposed during a special operation to identify hostile elements among the citizens of the Russian Federation, who entered the territory of Ukraine on the eve of the Russian invasion. The operation was carried out jointly with the Migration Police Department in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
According to operative information, the Russian military pilot has been regularly visiting close relatives in Zaporizhia in recent years.
He entered Ukraine on February 8 and remains so to this day. After the start of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the pilot began to hide, and his mother told everyone that she had not seen her son for more than a year. He identified himself as a retiree in civil aviation, although DBR staff had obtained conclusive evidence that he belonged to the Russian military.
The agency notes that the Russian probably came to Ukraine as a so-called "canned" to engage in sabotage and reconnaissance activities and adjust the fire of the Russian military on objects of the strategic importance to the Armed Forces and Territorial Defense, and to merge data on the movement, and location of Ukrainian troops.
After completion of all legal procedures, it will be handed over to the Security Service of Ukraine.