# Ukraine Says Russian Spy Network ‘Hunted’ F-16s, Exposing New Vulnerability at Frontline Airbases

*Thursday, August 13, 2026 at 10:07 AM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-08-13T10:07:16.237Z (2h ago)
**Category**: intelligence | **Region**: Eastern Europe
**Importance**: 8/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/14235.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

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**Deck**: Ukraine’s security service says it dismantled a 14-person Russian GRU agent network that was tracking F‑16 and Mirage 2000 jets and preparing targeting data for missile strikes on airbases. The case shows how every new Western aircraft delivery turns Ukrainian runways, crews and support staff into high-value targets in Russia’s war plan.

Protecting Ukraine’s newly arrived Western fighter jets is not just about air defenses and hardened shelters; it is also about who is holding a phone near the runway. On 13 August, Ukraine’s Security Service said it had dismantled a Russian spy network allegedly tasked with finding and tracking F‑16s and Mirage 2000s so they could be destroyed on the ground. According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), military counterintelligence, under the personal coordination of its chief Oleksandr Poklad, neutralized an agent network run by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. The group, the SBU says, consisted of 14 people from different regions of Ukraine who were gathering intelligence on…

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