In Odesa, a university associate professor has been arrested for spying for Russia

In Odesa, a university associate professor has been arrested for spying for Russia

A 52-year-old candidate of philological sciences and an associate professor at a local university has been arrested in Odesa on suspicion of espionage for the Russians. The Russians promised her a job at a Moscow educational institution in exchange for her cooperation. 

This was reported by the press service of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office and the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU).

"At the request of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, a 52-year-old resident of Odesa, suspected of espionage (Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), has been detained without the right to bail," the prosecutor’s office stated in its message. 

According to the investigation, since 2014, the woman had shared pro-Russian ideological views and maintained connections with individuals spreading anti-Ukrainian propaganda. After the start of the full-scale invasion, she agreed to confidential cooperation with a representative of the Russian intelligence services. She caught the enemy’s attention when she called for the capture of the Odesa region on the banned social media platform "VKontakte".

She was detained the day before her planned departure to the EU, from where she intended to travel to Russia. She already had the appropriate bus tickets with her.

In exchange for her cooperation, the occupiers promised her a teaching position at the Department of Russian Literature at a Moscow university.

One of her main tasks in Ukraine was to identify the temporary deployment points of the Defense Forces in the Odesa area. The enemy was primarily interested in operational airfields with combat helicopters and warehouses with weapons and ammunition of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Later, she was tasked with recruiting them into her own network of informants, through which the FSB planned to spy on the defenders of the southern region "from the inside".

Under the guise of accidental acquaintances, she gained trust and extracted information, using domestic topics and her academic activities as cover.

While communicating with a Ukrainian serviceman in the summer, the woman attempted to sway him to cooperate. She wanted him to bring copies of combat documents from his unit, which the spy intended to pass on to the enemy agent.

The perpetrator is currently detained. She faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.