In Kamchatka, a criminal case has been opened against 55-year-old pensioner Grigory Bilenko under Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“treason”). Bilenko, a native of Ukraine and a citizen of Russia, previously worked at Okeanrybflot and retired in 2019, after which he moved to the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine, having a residence permit in this country.

According to the FSB, Bilenko planned to return to Russia to renew his passport and withdraw his pension from the Sberbank card on which funds had accumulated. To solve this problem, he turned to a former classmate, an officer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who agreed to help, but in exchange demanded the transfer of data about the Russian army to the SBU. Bilenko accepted this condition and visited Kamchatka in the spring of 2023.

Returning to Ukraine, Bilenko told the SBU officer about his relative working in the Border Service of the Russian FSB and shared information about the details of the interrogations at the Russian border control. After this, the SBU allowed him to leave Ukraine again with the task of collecting intelligence data in Kamchatka.

According to the FSB, Bilenko, after receiving instructions, went to Russia, successfully passed interrogation in Moscow, and in Novosibirsk deleted correspondence with Ukrainian intelligence. In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, he began interviewing acquaintances associated with the military about the number of ships and possible losses.

On January 1, 2024, a criminal case was opened for treason, providing for punishment from 12 to 20 years in prison.