Ukraine jails two spies for treason

Ukraine said it had sentenced a husband and wife to 15 years in prison for providing information to Russia that allowed its forces to launch a rocket strike at a hospital.

Prosecutors have opened thousands of cases into alleged collaboration with Moscow since Russia invaded in February 2022.

The Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) also said it had detained a former soldier whom it accused of helping Russia plot strikes in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

The husband and wife – sentenced on treason charges – were accused of providing information on Ukrainian army positions, including “places of inpatient treatment for wounded Ukrainian soldiers”, the SBU said in a statement.

“It was at their direction that the occupiers shelled a local hospital” in the southern city of Kherson, it said.

They were allegedly recruited by Russia’s FSB security service after responding to an advert in a Russian Telegram channel offering payments in exchange for intelligence on Ukrainian positions.

Russian forces shelled a number of medical facilities in Kherson after Ukraine retook control of the southern city in November 2022.

The SBU also said it had detained a former serviceman accused of helping Russian forces “co-ordinate” attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region.

It said the suspect, who faces up to eight years in prison, had tried to flee to Russian-held territory.

“He was encouraged to take these steps by his parents, who live in occupied territory,” a statement read.

Ukrainian forces also said they had repelled a Russian sabotage group in the northeastern Sumy region. The Russian forces were pushed back with artillery and mortar fire.

Meanwhile, the arrest of a senior Russian official who revelled in luxury while overseeing military infrastructure projects could herald a reshuffle around Vladimir Putin.

Timur Ivanov, the deputy defence minister, was detained for allegedly taking large bribes, although some reports suggest that he is being investigated for alleged treason.