Ukraine, Russia trade blows in escalating spy war
July 13 (UPI) -- Ukraine and Russia have escalated their shadow war of espionage, sabotage and assassinations, with both countries claiming a growing list of captured agents, intercepted plots and cross-border attacks involving civilians, drones and improvised explosives.
On Sunday, Ukraine's Security Service, or SBU, announced that its officers had killed two Russian special services agents in Kyiv.
The pair, a man and a woman, had allegedly assassinated an SBU colonel under orders from Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB. The operation was personally led by SBU chief Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk, who said the suspects were tracked and eliminated after resisting arrest.
"As a result of covert search and active counterintelligence measures, the enemy's lair was discovered," Malyuk said. "During the arrest, they began to resist, there was a firefight, so the villains were eliminated."
According to the agency, the Russian operatives had entered Ukraine in advance of the attack, studied the victim's daily routine, retrieved a silenced pistol from a drop site and fatally shot the officer in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi district.
Operation Spiderweb
The killing is the latest flashpoint in a rapidly intensifying spy war that began to escalate in early June after Ukraine launched "Operation Spiderweb," a drone- and sabotage-based campaign striking military targets deep inside Russia.
In the days that followed, Russia's FSB announced a string of arrests, including an SBU agent in Crimea accused of planning to use an improvised explosive device to carry out sabotage and "terrorism."
Ukraine responded with its own crackdown, detaining a National Guard member in Kharkiv accused of directing Russian airstrikes against his unit, and arresting an alleged FSB agent embedded in a construction firm tasked with building military infrastructure.
Both agencies began publicizing near-daily arrests, many involving civilians allegedly recruited online through Telegram or WhatsApp.
On June 6, Ukraine said it captured two people working for the FSB to locate anti-aircraft systems in Dnipropetrovsk, and two more planning IED attacks on military targets in Dnipropetrovsk and Lviv. One was identified as a Ukrainian deserter. A day later, Ukraine said it detained two Russian agents who had detonated an IED in Dnipro that injured a law enforcement officer and destroyed a vehicle.
On June 10, the FSB claimed to have stopped a Russian citizen allegedly preparing to attack a civilian gathering in Krasnodar on behalf of the SBU. It said Ukraine had intensified efforts to recruit Russians online, particularly via messaging apps. The same day, Ukraine said it arrested a Kharkiv woman accused of both sharing troop positions and calling for "buffer zones" in Ukraine on social media during ongoing ceasefire talks.
Bomb and murder plots
Ukraine detained a 57-year-old man in Lviv accused of scouting air bases for Russia, and a woman who allegedly manufactured IEDs for the Russian military intelligence agency, the GRU. That woman's devices were allegedly used by a 21-year-old in a car bombing outside a Ukrainian military administrative building in the Odesa region.
Also under investigation is a sitting member of Ukraine's parliament who has been in custody since November 2024 for alleged high treason. The SBU said the politician participated in spreading Russian disinformation.
On June 14, Ukraine said it arrested a man in Odesa who had just planted an explosive device intended to kill a military officer. That same day, it detained a man in Zaporizhzhia who initially drew scrutiny for pro-Russian posts on Telegram and was later accused of marking Ukrainian military sites on Google Maps for Russian airstrikes.
Russia, too, expanded its intelligence efforts in occupied Ukrainian territory. On June 16, the FSB claimed it thwarted a car bombing plot in Kherson against a Russian official and the next day detained a citizen in Crimea for filming air defense systems.
Ukraine answered with more arrests, including alleged informants aiding Russian airstrikes in Donetsk and an "elite GRU unit" operating near Kyiv. On June 20, the SBU said it had detained a Ukrainian deserter-turned-FSB-agent accused of plotting an assassination in Kyiv for money and arrested six people it described as "pro-Russian internet agitators."
The pace continued through late June. Russia said it arrested two residents in occupied Zaporizhzhia, accused of leaking military positions to Ukraine, while Ukraine said it captured suspects hired for $400,000 to assassinate Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon. It also said it had foiled two recent attempts to kill President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Increasing surveillance
The following day, the FSB detained two Russians for planning to bomb a gas facility in Berdyansk, while Ukraine arrested a teenager for reporting troop movements. That same day, Ukraine said it had gathered evidence to charge three Russian military officials with war crimes committed during the 2022 occupation of Bucha.
On June 25, the FSB claimed to have foiled an SBU plot in Moscow. In the days that followed, it detained four Russian citizens for alleged treason and warned the public against interacting with strangers on encrypted messaging apps. That day, Ukraine said it had captured a 19-year-old Kharkiv woman who allegedly lured Ukrainian soldiers to a rigged scooter giveaway and attempted to flee after the IED exploded.
Ukraine also claimed to have thwarted a similar Russian plot involving a fake date arranged through a dating app. As July began, the SBU announced it had disrupted several new Russian efforts, including reconnaissance of energy infrastructure in Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, plotting attacks in Cherkasy, and an explosives plot targeting government buildings in Kharkiv.
Russia responded on July 7 with the arrest of four citizens accused of filming energy facilities in several Russian regions. On July 8, Ukraine said it thwarted a planned bombing at a hotel in Rivne by a woman who left an IED in a guest room and attempted to detonate it remotely. Two days later, the FSB said it detained Ukrainian intelligence officers in Melitopol accused of passing along Russian troop positions.
The most recent development from Russia came Friday, when it said it arrested two residents in Bryansk accused of conducting surveillance on law enforcement and military personnel for Ukrainian drone and bombing strikes.
Ukraine's counterintelligence campaign has not been limited to Russia. On July 9, the SBU announced it had detained alleged Chinese spies accused of trying to collect classified information about Ukraine's Neptune missile program.
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