- Ukraine's security agency says it's uncovered a spy ring that passed military information to Russia.
- The women are accused of high treason and could face life in prison if found guilty.
Counterintelligence officers have unmasked an all-female ring of spies who were aiding Russia's invasion with military intelligence, Ukraine's Security Service announced on Tuesday.
The group, based in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, passed information on to both the FSB — Russia's main spy agency — and the mercenary Wagner Group, according to the announcement.
The Ukrainian security agency, known as the SBU, said that Russia recruited the women before last year's full-scale invasion began, adding that they had been on "standby" until recently. Their identities have not been made public.
The SBU said that while three of the women remained in their hometown of Pokrovsk, northwest of the city of Donetsk, the fourth moved to Russia to coordinate their activities and is still at large.
The agency said the three women in Pokrovsk were caught as they went about their reconnaissance, covertly snapping photos of Ukrainian facilities and targets.
It claims that the women had been using a secure-chat app to inform Russia about the numbers and movements of troops and vehicles in the region. The SBU said they paid particular attention to attack helicopters, combat planes, and heavy armored vehicles.
The intelligence agency published text messages purporting to have been exchanged between the women, with most of the specifics blurred out.
Insider was unable to independently verify the claims, and it is unclear if the women have admitted or denied the accusations, which amount to high treason. They could face life imprisonment if found guilty, according to the announcement.
The news comes a day after the SBU said it had uncovered a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The agency said it had arrested a female informant who passed along vital information on the leader's movements during a visit to the Mykolaiv region, in the south of Ukraine, to launch an airstrike there.
The agency said that the SBU gaining advanced knowledge and enacting extra security measures purportedly foiled the plan.
It is unclear if the woman arrested was a part of the alleged spy ring.