The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on July 9 that two Chinese citizens were detained in Kyiv on suspicion of trying to steal classified military technology related to Ukraine's Neptune cruise missile system.
According to the SBU, one of the suspects, a 24-year-old former student at a technical university in Kyiv, and the other his father, were planning to collect classified documents and illegally transfer them to Chinese intelligence, according to Ukraine.
NEPTUNE SINKED MOSCOW
The Neptune, a Ukrainian-made coastal defense missile, attracted international attention after it was used to sink the Moskva, Russia's Black Sea Fleet flagship, in 2022.
The SBU reported that the former student was caught red-handed transferring sensitive documents, and his father was detained shortly thereafter. According to investigators, the father, who lives in China, traveled to Ukraine periodically and personally supervised his son's espionage activities.
'ENCRYPTED MESSAGES FOUND'
Ukrainian media reported that searches of the suspects' belongings found mobile phones containing evidence of coordinated efforts to monitor Ukrainian military technology, including encrypted messages between the two men.
Both suspects have been charged with espionage and face up to 15 years in prison and asset confiscation if convicted.
'HE REMAINED DESPITE HIS LOW SUCCESS'
It was alleged that the young man continued to stay in Ukraine despite being expelled from the university in 2023 due to low academic achievement and attempted to recruit a Ukrainian citizen with access to secret defense technologies to provide technical data on the Neptune RK-360MC missile system.
Ukraine accuses China of supporting Russia during the war. The Kyiv Independent reported that China"helped Russia circumvent sanctions while also becoming the largest supplier of dual-use products supporting its defense industry."
In January, in an operation carried out by the SBU and the Ukrainian Navy, Ukraine used a Neptune missile to hit a warehouse containing ammunition and reconnaissance drones near the village of Chaltyr in Russia’s Rostov region.
