UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Jul 16 — The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained a married couple on suspicion of working for the Russian FSB and leaking coordinates for a new Russian missile strike on the units of the Defense Forces in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions, the SBU press service reported.

Since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more than 1,000 people in the Kharkiv Oblast have received a notice of suspicion in proceedings over treason, collaboration, and dissemination of information about the movement of the Armed Forces.

According to the investigation, the wife worked as a nurse in a local medical institution in Kharkiv and allegedly involved her husband, who lived in Okhtyrka, Sumy region, into the operation. He is a former employee of the disbanded police force.

The woman was asking her work colleagues about the locations of the Defense Forces in the Kharkiv region. The husband, at his wife’s request, was allegedly walking through the border areas to identify the locations of Ukrainian defenders.

The investigation says he sent his wife the information he had received via messenger, and she then “reported” to her Moscow supervisor. 

“Among the main targets of the enemy were the headquarters and fortifications of the Armed Forces and the State Border Guard Service. The aggressor was also interested in the geolocation of logistics bases and warehouses with weapons and ammunition of Ukrainian troops,” the SBU said.

During the search, the SBU seized the suspects’ cell phones and SIM cards from various operators with evidence of their conversations with Russians.

The SBU served the woman a notice of suspicion in high treason. The man is suspected of disseminating information about the movement or deployment of the Armed Forces. Both are now detained and face from eight years in prison to a life sentence. 

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