MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained an accessory to Ukrainian intelligence services in Tyumen, who was engaged in recruiting Russian soldiers to switch to Kiev’s side after their arrival in the special military operation zone, the FSB’s Public Relations Center told TASS on Tuesday.
"In Tyumen, the activity of an accessory to Ukrainian intelligence was thwarted. The perpetrator was attempting to suborn an officer at a [Russian] military base to switch, together with the unit under his command, to the side of the Ukrainian army after being deployed to the zone of the special military operation," the FSB press service said.
To support his recruitment pitch, he cited patently false information discrediting the Russian Armed Forces, and guaranteed to make connections for the Russian servicemen with Ukrainian intelligence, the FSB said.
A criminal case was opened against the detainee under Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code ("High Treason"), which carries a punishment of life imprisonment.