Former KGB Agent Arrested In Ukraine: Sending Target Location With Instagram, Direct Missile Strike That Kills 50 Soldiers

Illustration of Ukrainian SBU special forces. (Wikimedia Commons/President.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said Tuesday it arrested a former Soviet KGB agent who helped direct a Russian missile strike, in which 50 soldiers died at a military facility in the west of the country in March.

The suspect sent the target's location at the Yavoriv military training center to a contact at an unspecified Russian agency using the messaging app Telegram, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) and local prosecutors said.

"As a result of the rocket attack on the Yavoriv training ground, more than 50 personnel were killed, and nearly 150 were injured," the SBU said on Telegram, citing Reuters on June 29.

After the missile attack, Ukraine said that 35 soldiers were killed at the facility, which is located 15 miles (25 km) from the Polish border.

The suspect, who is from the western city of Lviv, was detained and investigated for treason, the prosecutor's office said. However, he could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters.

There have been previous allegations of spies or 'traitors' assisting Russia's air and missile strikes since the February 24 invasion. The mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, accused a traitor of passing vital information to Russian troops during the bombing of the southern port city at the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

Illustration of Ukrainian SBU special forces. (Wikimedia Commons/Security Service of Ukraine)

Boychenko, told the BBC that the destruction of the city's critical infrastructure, including the electricity supply, was well coordinated. And he suspects the traitors who have given the coordinates to Russia, as quoted from The Guardian.

"They knew where to shoot. There were a lot of traitors who gave the coordinates. Everything we had, everything that was considered the important infrastructure of the city, was destroyed in the first seven days," Boychenko complained.

"There are 15 power supplies in the city. Even the mayor doesn't know where they are all. And they found out and within a week destroyed all 15," he continued.

"Water points, communication lines, and food and medicine storage warehouses were also targeted," he said.

Previously, suspected of being part of a Russian spy network, a senior Ukrainian government official and businessman was also arrested by the SBU. Their names were not disclosed, but identified them as senior officials at the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers and department heads at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, for business lobbying.

"These officials pass on a wide range of intelligence information to the adversary, from the state of our defense capabilities to state border arrangements and personal data of Ukrainian law enforcement officers," the SBU said.

Separately, the Russian side did not immediately comment on the SBU's statement regarding these arrests and intelligence activities.