Ukraine says it has exposed a Russian spy ring.

One of the alleged agents even worked in the Ukrainian general staff, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyj's adviser Olexyj Arestovych on Monday night.

One of the agents' goals was an attack on a plane: "These comrades should shoot down a passenger plane over Russia or Belarus and then blame Ukraine for it," said Arestovych.

He said nothing about the number of members of the ring.

Gerhard Gnauck

Political correspondent for Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania based in Warsaw.

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Ukraine's secret service, the SBU, provides more detailed information about its deployment on its website.

During an operation in several stages, "an enemy diversion and reconnaissance squad (DRG) engaged in deep conspiracy was eliminated."

In the broadest sense, diversion means sabotage, i.e. various forms of damage to the opponent, which are also summarized today as "hybrid warfare".

"The agents of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia had prepared an act of terrorism," it said, referring to the allegedly planned shooting down of a passenger plane.

Everyone involved is said to have been arrested

After the shooting down, “Ukraine and our partners should be blamed”.

To make that seem believable, a Stinger missile should be used.

These American-made shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles have been supplied to Ukraine from their stocks by several countries since the beginning of the war, including Germany.

The DRG included two people with dual citizenship (an obvious choice would be: Ukrainian-Russian) and one person recruited by them.

The group was coordinated by the Russian Alexander Tyuterev, a full-time employee of Russia's military intelligence service with the pseudonym "Morpech" (abbreviated for "Marine Infantryman").

Tyuterev previously "participated in the organization of a number of acts of terrorism in the Odessa region, for which he is wanted."

According to the SBU, the agents he controlled tried to establish contacts with the Ukrainian military “disguised as patriotic activists” and for this purpose provided them with credible information about the movement of Chechen auxiliaries to the Russian army.

They should also have found a Stinger missile through these contacts and handed it over to the Russian side.

According to the SBU, all those involved have been arrested;

it will be further investigated.

The shooting down of a civilian aircraft can have a profound impact on the perception of a war.

So it was in 2014 when the Malaysian Boeing MH 17 was shot down over the then contested eastern Ukraine by pro-Russian fighters with a Buk missile provided by Russia;

all 298 people on board perished.

Several procedures are underway for the shooting, including against Russia.

Unmasking agents of the neighboring country has been an important element in Ukraine's relations with Russia for years.

Former SBU chief Valentyn Nalivaychenko reported in February that during his tenure he tracked down and neutralized five groups of Russian agents who were waiting to be deployed (so-called “sleepers”).

At the end of March, Kyiv published a list of 620 names of alleged employees of the Russian civil secret service FSB in Europe.