British military instructor arrested in Ukraine on suspicion of spying for Russia

Ukrainian authorities have arrested a British military instructor accused of spying for Russia and plotting assassinations.Ross David Cutmore, 40, from 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 passed on the 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 had carried out other tasks for the benefit of the Russian special services.”Cutmore was previously deployed to the Middle East with the British army, and arrived in Ukraine early last year to assist its military and later its border guard.According to the Times, he is the main suspect in the investigation. He was allegedly recruited by Russian intelligence officers in Odesa, southern Ukraine, and was paid $6,000 if he gave confidential information regarding the location of Ukrainian military units around the city. If found guilty, Cutmore faces up to 12 years in prison.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionFSB officers reportedly approached Cutmore after he was believed to have posted “adverts offering his services” in different online pro-Russian social media groups. According to Ukraine’s internal intelligence agency, Cutmore was sent instructions to make an explosive device, and the coordinates of a cache from which he took a pistol.According to Ukrainian media, Cutmore is suspected of providing weapons to kill the Ukrainian activists Demyan Hanul and Iryna Farion, as well as the MP Andriy Parubiy, who were all murdered by assassins.Since Russia’s full invasion in 2022, thousands of people have enlisted in Ukraine’s armed forces after the president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urged foreign war veterans to join and help the country.A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “We are providing consular assistance to a British man who is detained in Ukraine. We remain in close contact with the Ukrainian authorities.”