Kiev - A Ukrainian engineer was sentenced to four years in prison for collecting confidential information for the Czech intelligence service.
According to the Ukrainian media, "citizen S." was collecting intelligence on the weapon development and defense capabilities of his country, passing the information to Czech spies.
The man was arrested last year and information about the arrest appeared in the media in May, amid the diplomatic war between the Czech Republic and Ukraine. The conflict resulted in two diplomats from each side being expelled.
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The sentenced engineer worked in Kiev's civil aviation plant that produces and repairs Antonov planes.
According to Interfax-Ukraine news agency, his name is Serhiy Skursky. A Kiev district court sentenced him for passing information on the Yuzhmash plant in Dnipropetrovsk to Czech diplomats.
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Yuzhmash manufactures space rockets, satellites and other products. In the Cold War era, the plant also produced nuclear missiles for the Soviet Union.
The agency wrote that Skursky had collected information about the development of the An-70 and An-178 aircraft and Adros systems that provides anti-missile protection for planes and helicopters. Allegedly, Skursky passed the information to the Czech intelligence agency in exchange for financial reward.
Skursky was given the lowest possible sentence.
In 2011, the Ukrainian security service (SBU) said that the Czech intelligence service was collecting information about the An-70 and An-178 aircraft, rocket and space systems developed by Ukrainian engineers for Russia, and Ukraine's satellite navigation system used in tanks.
SBU spokesperson Maryna Ostapenko said in 2011 that an employee of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry was also arrested over the same espionage affair.
The Ukrainian media speculate that Czech spies served only as an intermediary, and the confidential information was obtained for the US, French, German, or even Chinese espionage agencies.
Earlier this week, Ukraine jailed two North Koreans for espionage activities.
