Ukrainian authorities have arrested a British military instructor accused of spying for Russia and plotting an assassination.
Ross David Cutmore, 40, of Dunfermline, was allegedly recruited by Russia’s intelligence service, the FSB, to “carry out targeted killings on the territory of Ukraine” between 2024 and 2025.
The Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office said: “In May 2025, he provided coordinates of the locations of Ukrainian units, photographs of the training facility and information about military personnel that could be used to identify them.
“In addition, analysis of his correspondence confirmed that he also performed other actions for the benefit of Russian special services.”
Cutmore was previously deployed to the Middle East with the British Army, and arrived in Ukraine early last year to assist his army and later its border guard.
According to the Times, he is the prime suspect in the investigation. He was reportedly recruited by Russian intelligence officers in Odessa, southern Ukraine, and paid $6,000 if he provided confidential information about the location of Ukrainian military units around the city. If convicted, Cutmore faces up to 12 years in prison.
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FSB officers had reportedly contacted Cutmore because he was believed to have posted “advertisements offering his services” in various online pro-Russian social media groups. According to Ukraine’s internal intelligence agency, Cutmore was sent instructions on how to make an explosive device and coordinates to a cache from which he took the pistol.
According to Ukrainian media, Cutmore is suspected of providing weapons to kill Ukrainian activists Demyan Hanul and Irina Faryan, as well as MP Andriy Parubiy, who were all murdered by assassins.
Since Russia’s all-out invasion in 2022, thousands of people have been recruited into Ukraine’s armed forces after President Volodymyr Zelensky urged veterans of foreign wars to join and help the country.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are providing consular assistance to a British man detained in Ukraine. We are in close contact with the Ukrainian authorities.”
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