MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. Officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) have detained a Sevastopol resident, 63, for transferring intelligence information about Russian soldiers to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the FSB said.

"The Federal Security Service has foiled criminal activities of a resident of Sevastopol, born in 1963, suspected of high treason for espionage," according to the FSB.

On instructions from an SBU agent, the Russian man "transferred intelligence information about soldiers of the Russian Defense Ministry as he was also plotting to establish visual observation over vehicles of their family members," the FSB specified.

The suspect confirmed his recruitment on WhatsApp and cooperation with Ukrainian special services.

The FSB’s department in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol has opened a criminal case on charges of high treason that can result in a sentence for up to a life term. The detainee has been placed into custody based on a court verdict.