Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) said it has detained a 24-year-old former Kyiv technical-college student and his father, both Chinese citizens, for allegedly attempting to smuggle secret documentation on the RK-360MC Neptune cruise-missile system to China.
The SBU’s counter-intelligence branch stated it arrested the son “red-handed” as he received the classified files, then detained the father, who had travelled from China to direct the operation.
Investigators say the son, expelled from university in 2023, stayed in Ukraine and tried to recruit a Ukrainian defense-industry contact to obtain the material.
Both men are suspected of espionage and face up to 15 years in prison plus asset confiscation, the agency added.
Neptune missiles are designed to strike warships, landing craft, tanks and other military vehicles.
Ukrainian forces used the weapon in April 2022 to sink the Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva, then flagship of the Black Sea Fleet.
The system’s standard range is about 280 km, with variants reaching 400 km.
In March, President Volodymyr Zelensky said a modified “Long Neptune” successfully hit a target 1,000 km away during combat use.
(jh)
Source: PAP