The Ukrainian Security Service’s counterintelligence unit detained two citizens of the People’s Republic of China in Kyiv who were attempting to illegally smuggle classified documents on the Ukrainian RK-360MC Neptune missile system to China.
“This is a unique weapon of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, designed to destroy all types of combat and landing ships. We would like to remind you that it was the Neptune that destroyed the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the missile cruiser Moskva,” a statement on Telegram said on Wednesday.
According to the investigation, one of the Chinese spies is a 24-year-old former student of a technical university in Kyiv. He remained in Kyiv after being expelled in 2023 for academic failure.
Another figure in the case is his father, who lived permanently in China but periodically visited Ukraine to personally coordinate his son’s espionage activities. “According to the case file, the former Chinese student was supposed to obtain technical documentation on the production of Ukrainian Neptune missiles.
To this end, he attempted to recruit a Ukrainian citizen involved in the development of the latest weapons for the Armed Forces,” the statement said.
The SBU counterintelligence service exposed the spy at the initial stage of his intelligence activities and detained him while he was receiving secret documents. The next stage was the detention of his father, who was supposed to pass on the secret information to the Chinese special services. During searches of both suspects, phones were seized with evidence of their correspondence, where they coordinated their espionage activities.
Based on the evidence gathered, investigators from the Security Service informed the detainees that they were suspected of violating Part 1 of Article 114 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (espionage). The suspects face up to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.
