Ukraine Arrests School Vice Principal for Aiding Russian Strikes

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the woman was recruited in Belarus during her visit to the country during the initial days of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Make us preferred on Google Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied (Photo by SBU) Content Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Flip Make us preferred on Google Ukraine said it has arrested a vice principal at a local school in eastern Ukraine’s Kramatorsk for providing coordinates to Moscow to aid attacks on the city. Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, sits approximately 18 kilometers (11 miles) east of the active front and is a key Ukrainian stronghold in the region’s defense, whose capture remains an official Kremlin war goal and the subject of ongoing negotiations . Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official . The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in a Wednesday press release , said the woman was recruited in Belarus by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) during her visit to the country in 2022, soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started. The woman was activated by the FSB in the summer of 2025, the SBU said, where she was tasked with relaying locations of Ukrainian troops and equipment in Kramatorsk. “To carry out the enemy’s task, the figure went around the district center and recorded the largest concentration of personnel and equipment of Ukrainian troops,” the SBU said. “In addition, the woman tried to covertly solicit intelligence information through acquaintances during everyday conversations,” it added. The SBU said the woman transmitted the information via voice and text messages to her handler. Authorities arrested her at her place of residence and confiscated the smartphone she used to communicate with the FSB. The agency added that precautionary measures are taken to “secure the locations of Ukrainian troops” after she leaked the coordinates. Other Topics of Interest The Cost of Staying Alive in Russia’s War: Bribes, Threats and No Way Out Russian troops reportedly bribe commanders to avoid deadly missions, exposing deep corruption as soldiers pay thousands for safer roles, leave – or survival. The woman has been served a notice of suspicion – a legal step preceding formal charges in the Ukrainian legal system – for high treason during martial law, where she faces life imprisonment with confiscation of properties if convicted. Kramatorsk has been a frequent target of Russian attacks. On April 11, hours before the Easter ceasefire came into force, Russia dropped an aerial bomb on the city’s center and injured 10 civilians. On Aug. 25, 2024, Russia’s combined drone-and-missile strikes hit a hotel in Kramatorsk, wounding two journalists and leaving a third missing in the rubble. Leo Chiu is a journalist and editor based in Eastern Europe since 2015. He has witnessed two presidential elections in Belarus and traveled widely to conflict zones and contested regions, producing reporting that bridges the gap between major developments and local realities.