Russia Detains Alleged Ukrainian Agent Linked to UK Embassy Security

By Staff, Agencies

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it detained a Russian national employed by an organization responsible for security at the UK Embassy in Moscow on charges of high treason, accusing him of working as an agent for Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU).

The FSB said the detainee, a Russian national born in 1981, was exposed during counter-intelligence operations. A criminal case has been opened and a preliminary investigation is underway.

According to the FSB, the man gathered information about employees of the UK diplomatic mission in Moscow, including their personal details, photographs, home addresses, vehicles, movements, meetings, and trips, as well as information about the embassy’s security system and events held there.

The FSB alleged that he acted on instructions from Ukrainian blogger Dmytro Karpenko, also known as “Apostle Dmytro.”

The agency said the detainee contacted Karpenko in January and informed him that he worked as a security guard at the British ambassador’s residence in Moscow.

In a video released by the FSB, the detainee said Karpenko showed particular interest in information about the ambassador, his deputies, diplomats, and other staff.

He said the requests included their names, addresses, vehicles, restaurants they visited, cities they traveled to, and the arrival and departure times of embassy personnel.

The detainee also allegedly provided information about the diplomatic mission’s security arrangements. According to screenshots of messages cited by the FSB, he told his alleged handler that he would be interested in joining Ukrainian forces if he found himself in a combat zone.

The FSB did not provide further details about the investigation or specify when the alleged intelligence-gathering activities began beyond the detainee’s reported contact with Karpenko in January.

The allegations come amid heightened security tensions between Russia and Western countries over the conflict in Ukraine.