Ukraine Arrests Air Force Officers For Spying On West Supply Fighter Jets

UNSPLASH/Jeff Cooper ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Ukraine's domestic security agency arrested an air force officer on charges of spying for Russia by leaking the locations of F-16 and Mirage 2000 fighter jets.

The unnamed officer is an instructor with the rank of major.

He was accused of helping Russia carry out airstrikes by giving coordinates and suggesting attack tactics, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said.

"In particular, the enemy's priority targets are the airports where F-16, Mirage 2000, and Su-24 are based," SBU said.

US-made F-16 and French-made Mirage, while Su-24 is an old Soviet-made jet bomber.

"The agency collects coordinates on the location of these planes, schedule, and sequence of their departures," he continued.

SBU said the suspect also provided data on Ukrainian air force personnel and combat tactics to Russian military intelligence.

Moscow routinely targets airports and military bases across Ukraine, especially areas believed to be weapons storage sites provided by the West such as F-16 or Mirage jets.

Both aircraft are critical in strengthening Ukraine's defenses against Russia's ever-increasing airstrikes and rapid battlefield progress in Moscow's massive invasion that has lasted for three and a half years.

This month, SBU detained two Chinese nationals on suspicion of spying on Ukraine's Neptune anti-ship missile program, an important part of Kyiv's growing domestic weapons industry.