Ukraine detains Chinese spies tasked with stealing Neptune missile technology, SBU says
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained two Chinese nationals in Kyiv suspected of attempting to steal classified military technology related to Ukraine's Neptune cruise missile system, the agency announced on July 9.
According to the SBU, the two individuals, a 24-year-old former student of a Kyiv technical university and his father, were gathering secret documentation with the intent to illegally transfer it to Chinese intelligence.
The younger man, who remained in Ukraine after being expelled from university in 2023 for poor academic performance, allegedly attempted to recruit a Ukrainian national with access to classified defense technologies in order to obtain technical data on the RK-360MC Neptune missile system.
China has emerged as one of Moscow's key wartime partners, helping Russia circumvent sanctions and becoming the largest supplier of dual-use goods aiding its defense sector.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly accused China of backing Russia and signed an order on July 8 imposing sanctions on five Chinese-registered companies for allegedly supplying components found in Russian Shahed-type drones used to attack Ukraine.
The Neptune, a Ukrainian-developed coastal defense missile, gained international attention after it was used to sink the Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva in 2022.
The SBU said the former student was caught "red-handed" during the transfer of sensitive documents, and his father was detained shortly afterward. Investigators allege the elder suspect, who resides in China but made periodic visits to Ukraine, personally supervised his son's espionage activities.
Searches of the suspects' belongings uncovered mobile phones containing evidence of coordinated efforts to spy on Ukrainian military technology, including encrypted communications between the two men.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on July 10 that it is "verifying" information regarding the case.
"If Chinese citizens are involved, we will… safeguard Chinese citizens’ legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, according to AFP.
Both suspects have been charged with espionage. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison and confiscation of property.
Ukraine struck a Russian warehouse storing ammunition and reconnaissance drones with a Neptune missile near the village of Chaltyr in Russia's Rostov Oblast in a January operation carried out by the SBU and Ukraine's Navy.
