Ingushetia man charged with high treason over alleged Ukraine links

Russian security services have charged a 26-year-old man from Ingushetia with high treason for allegedly operating equipment on behalf of Ukrainian military intelligence.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday that the unnamed resident of the regional capital, Magas, established contact with Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) through social media.

According to officials, he was instructed to operate "SIM boxes" — devices containing multiple SIM cards used to route large volumes of phone calls and text messages for telephone fraud schemes.

Footage released by the FSB showed the suspect's detention. In the video, the man said he had accepted a job offer paying $580 (£450) a week to work 12-hour shifts, six days a week.

The Magas District Court remanded the suspect in custody for two months while investigators search for other potential contacts. If convicted of high treason, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

There has been no independent confirmation of the FSB's account, and it is not known whether the suspect has admitted guilt. Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the allegations.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, security agencies have routinely announced arrests for treason, espionage, and sabotage.

Residents in the North Caucasus region have increasingly been named as defendants in such proceedings.

Earlier this year, three people in Ingushetia, including a 17-year-old, were detained for allegedly managing a communications hub for a Ukrainian call centre involved in a ₽1.3m ($17,000) theft.

In April 2026, the Supreme Court of nearby Kabardino-Balkaria sentenced local resident Bekir Makoev to 12 years in prison for high treason after convicting him of passing sensitive information to a foreign state.

Other recent cases in the region include the 2024 conviction of Beslan Tsechoev, who received a five-year sentence in Ingushetia for attempting to defect to Ukraine, and former Daghestan kickboxing coach Akhmed Akhmedov, who was accused in 2023 of joining Ukrainian forces.