An informant who was plotting with Russian agents to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been arrested, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said Monday.
The woman tried to gather information for an airstrike during a Zelenskyy visit to the southern Mykolaiv province – including where he would be at specific times and the routes he would take – and was caught “red-handed’’ attempting to share it with Russian agents, the SBU said. The agency said it was aware of her plans and took extra safety measures to protect the president. The SBU did not provide dates for these events, but Zelenskyy traveled to Mykolaiv in mid-June and late July.
The informant also intended to find the location of Ukrainian “electronic warfare systems’’ and ammunition depots around the city of Ochakiv, site of a naval base, according to the SBU.
“The occupiers planned to use this information to prepare a new massive airstrike on the Mykolaiv region,’’ the SBU said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.
The agency did not identify the suspect but said she’s an Ochakiv resident who used to work as a saleswoman at a military store and traveled around the area filming locations of strategic interest. She’s facing charges of unauthorized dissemination of military information and, if convicted, could be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison, the SBU said.
Developments:
◾ Russian science-fiction writer Dmitry Glukhovsky was sentenced to eight years in prison by a Moscow court that found him guilty Monday of spreading false information about the Russian military. Glukhovsky, who’s not in the country, had posted texts and videos on his social media channels accusing Russian servicemen of committing crimes in Ukraine.
◾ Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said attempts to push toward the southern cities of Melitopol and Berdyansk have been complicated by enhanced Russian defenses. “Our troops are now faced not only with mining but also with concrete engineering fortification of key commanding heights,” she said on Telegram.
◾ Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was placed in solitary confinement for two weeks Friday right after his conviction on extremism charges, which added 19 years to the nine-year prison term he was already serving, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said Monday.
Russian missiles kill 5, injure 31 in Donetsk residential area
Five people were killed and at least 31 injured − including 19 policemen − when two Russian missiles struck the city center of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk province Monday, Ukrainian officials said.
The strikes, 40 minutes apart, hit the Ukrainian side of a region partially occupied by Russian troops. Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said the attack damaged nine- and five-story buildings, residential houses, a hotel, dining establishments, shops and administrative buildings.
Zelenskyy said the deputy head of the State Emergency Service in Donetsk was among those killed in the second strike.
“An ordinary residential building was hit,” Zelenskyy tweeted, adding that “Russia is trying to leave only broken and scorched stones” in the eastern Donbas region.
North Korea hacks into Russian missile developer, report says
A leading Russian missile developer was hacked for at least five months in 2022 by North Korean cyber-espionage teams, Reuters reported Monday.
The elite hackers, known to security experts as ScarCruft and Lazarus, are linked to the North Korean government, Reuters reported. Its story said they breached the systems at NPO Mashinostroyeniya, a rocket design bureau outside Moscow. It’s not clear what data the intruders viewed or took.
“Experts say the incident shows how the isolated country will even target its allies, such as Russia, in a bid to acquire critical technologies,” Reuters wrote.
Less than two weeks ago, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the North Korean capital of Pyongyang as the country was marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean War.
Peace meeting benefits Ukraine despite lack of agreements
No concrete agreements, not even a communique, came out of the weekend’s gathering in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, of more than 40 nations seeking a path toward peace in Ukraine. That doesn’t mean nothing was accomplished.
China’s mere presence was a significant development after it skipped a similar June meeting in Denmark, and even more so considering its close relationship with Russia, which was conspicuously not invited. India, now the world’s most populous country and a buyer of cheap Russian oil like China, was in attendance as well.
The assembly provided Ukrainian officials a face-to-face opportunity to present Zelenskyy’s peace plan and perhaps even gain a measure of support from nations that have remained ostensibly neutral in the war, some of which could benefit from the end of a conflict that has impacted global food and energy prices.
Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Monday all participants were in favor of Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity, but not all the points in its peace proposal. He also said another meeting may follow within six weeks, and eventually at least one higher-level summit to hash out differences.
“We are ready to hear everyone, but it is logical that it should be the Ukrainian (peace) formula,” he said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the gathering in Saudi Arabia, saying it did not have “the slightest added value” because Russia wasn’t invited.
Contributing: The Associated Press
