The SSU and the Public Prosecutor’s Office have reported the arrest of two suspects accused of treason in the Poltava region
The Security Service of Ukraine and the Cherkasy Regional Prosecutor’s Office have reported the exposure and arrest of two residents of Poltava who are suspected of high treason under martial law.
According to the investigation, those detained are a 19-year-old female student at a local university and a 38-year-old man.
The SBU reported that the young woman came to the attention of the Russian Federal Security Service after she had been looking for ways to earn money via Telegram channels. After being recruited, she used the pretext of going for walks to map the locations of key energy facilities in the Poltava region, which supply electricity to the regional centre and surrounding areas.
In addition, according to the SBU, she travelled around the region by taxi and took photographs and videos of Ukrainian air defence units.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the woman also photographed military units and infrastructure facilities, after which she passed the material on to her Russian handler. For completing these tasks, she received payment in cryptocurrency, which she transferred to a bank card.
According to the investigation, the 38-year-old man was recruited by a representative of the Russian Federal Security Service in March 2026. He travelled repeatedly from the Poltava region to the Kharkiv region, where he photographed military facilities and units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, noting their coordinates, the date and time of the photographs, and then passed the information to his handler via Telegram.
To maintain secrecy, according to the prosecutor’s office, the suspect used accounts registered under women’s names, various telephone numbers and a crypto wallet. He received 6,700 hryvnias for carrying out the tasks.
SBU officers detained the suspects. During searches, mobile phones, laptops, computer equipment and bank cards were seized from them, which, according to the investigation, were used in illegal activities.
Both were served with a notice of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: ‘High treason committed under martial law’.
At the request of the prosecution, the court ordered that the suspects be remanded in custody. Regarding the female student, the SBU also reported that she had been remanded in custody without the right to bail.
In accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of a crime until their guilt has been proven by a court conviction.
