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The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained British national Ross David Cutmore for allegedly obtaining firearms and ammunition from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) to carry out assassinations in Ukraine, according to reports. Cutmore could face up to 12 years in prison and confiscation of property, according to the SBU.
While some reports have claimed Cutmore was a British Army veteran, his military service remains unclear, as does whether the uniform he is pictured wearing is from the British military.
When asked about his military service record, the U.K. Ministry of Defense referred Fox News Digital to the U.K.'s Foreign Office.
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A spokesperson for the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told Fox News Digital, "We are providing consular assistance to a British man who is detained in Ukraine. We remain in close contact with the Ukrainian authorities."
The spokesperson added that the FCDO cannot get a British national "out of prison, prevent the local authorities from deporting you after your prison sentence, or interfere in criminal or civil court proceedings. We must follow other countries’ systems," according to its consular assistance page.
On Oct. 29, without disclosing his name, the SBU announced the detention of a "former military instructor" who was working for the FSB in Kyiv.
Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, foreigners have traveled to Ukraine to assist in the war effort, after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a public plea for veterans to come to Kyiv at the start of the conflict, according to the Financial Times.
The SBU said he arrived in Kyiv in early 2024 to serve as a military instructor tasked with training Ukrainian Army personnel. A few months later, Cutmore stopped working as an instructor and allegedly offered to collaborate with Russian special services as he sought "easy money," the SBU claimed.
Investigators believe he was approached by FSB officers after he posted notices on pro-Russian social media groups, and was then allegedly recruited in Odesa in Sept. 2024 and paid $6,000 to provide Russia with sensitive information, according to reports.
An FSB handler tasked him with gathering information regarding other foreign military instructors and the coordinates of training centers in southern Ukraine.
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The SBU also said that he was sent instructions for making a homemade explosive device, in addition to the coordinates of the cache where he took a pistol with two loaded magazines, but the SBU detained Cutmore at his residence in Kyiv before the task was carried out.
He is accused of providing Russia with information regarding Ukraine’s military and of preparing for "terrorist attacks," as stated by the SBU.
The SBU and Kyiv's Prosecutor's Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The FSB could not be immediately reached.
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