KYIV, Ukraine, Oct 28, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Kyiv said on Monday it had detained a Ukrainian man volunteering with the UN's World Food Programme for allegedly aiding Russian forces in the east of the country.

Ukraine has opened thousands of investigations into collaboration and treason since Russian forces invaded in 2022, allegations that carry long prison terms.

"Under the guise of volunteering, the traitor was spying on the locations of the Defence Forces in the Pokrovsk sector," the Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement.

Russian forces are advancing towards the town of Pokrovsk, which had a pre-war population of around 60,000 people and outgunned Ukrainian forces have been struggling to hold the line.

The SBU said the 34-year-old volunteer was tasked with identifying the positions of Ukrainian forces and artillery in and around Pokrovsk, for Russia to target them in drone strikes or artillery attacks.

Their statement added that the suspect, who was already in custody, was facing life in prison on high-treason charges.