April 17, 2025

From Moscow Lawyer to Ukrainian Spy


From Moscow Lawyer to Ukrainian Spy
Russian military vehicles with Z symbols during the invasion of Ukraine. Anonymous author, Wikimedia Commons

The independent publication Verstka interviewed a Moscow lawyer who abandoned a successful career and family to fight alongside the Armed Forces of Ukraine and ended up working as a Ukrainian intelligence agent inside the Russian army. For the safety of those involved, Verstka changed the subjects’ names.

Dmitry Vorobyov, 43, had a successful legal career, his own business in Moscow, a wife, and two young children before the start of Russia’s War on Ukraine. Politically active, he supported opposition causes, including Alexei Navalny.

According to Vorobyov, the full-scale invasion shocked him. “I looked at people in the subway, at people in court hearings deciding bankruptcy cases, and thought: ‘Guys, what are you doing? Are you idiots or something? You need to go to Red Square,’” Vorobyov told Verstka.

By the summer 2022, Vorobyov decided he "could no longer remain inactive" and resolved to join Ukrainian forces. He studied maps and found a route to cross the Belarus-Ukraine border unnoticed. Ukrainian authorities detained him for illegally crossing the border, fined him, and sentenced him to eight days of administrative arrest. oVerstka confirmed these details through court documents.

Vorobyov, however, never served the sentence. Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) officers took him directly from court to Lutsk, where he was held and interrogated with polygraph tests for two weeks.

Unable to join Ukrainian forces, Vorobyov returned to Russia via Belarus, maintaining contacts with SBU agents through WhatsApp. Then Vorobyov developed a plan: he would join the Russian army to relay frontline intelligence to Ukraine. The plan was approved in SBU, and in June 2023, he enlisted through a Moscow recruitment center.

After two weeks of training in Volgograd, Vorobyov’s unit deployed to Crimea. Vorobyov described approximately 70% to 80% of his fellow soldiers as having criminal backgrounds. “Lost people. Like me, a lost person trying to find himself by going to war,” he reflected.

Vorobyov's company was later transferred to Krynki village in Ukraine's occupied Kherson region, site of a significant Ukrainian breakthrough in 2023. Vorobyov believes he contributed to Ukraine’s success: “I don't know exactly why they went through Krynki, but I think my role wasn’t insignificant.”

He provided Ukrainian forces with details about troop locations, weaponry, and targets for strikes. Vorobyov believes other Ukrainian agents were also present, citing an officer from a neighboring company who reportedly swam across the Dnieper River to defect.

Russian losses in Krynki were heavy, according to Vorobyov. “From October to December, 80% of our personnel were lost. The ratio was one killed to three wounded. Of 96 people, only 20 remained active,” he stated.

Counterintelligence arrived later to investigate the breach in Krynki. Vorobyov narrowly avoided detection. "They checked my phone, which contained all my communications with coordinates. I calmly handed it over; they didn’t find anything because I had a hidden space," he explained.

In February 2024, Vorobyov was wounded in a drone attack and hospitalized in Moscow. In spring 2024, following his recovery, he again sought to join Ukrainian forces. "My family fell apart—my wife couldn’t handle it. I didn't want to return to war from Russia. I told my contacts in Lutsk I was tired of playing Stirlitz (a famous fictional Soviet spy) and preferred joining them. They agreed," Vorobyov recounted.

He bought tickets to Yerevan and Simferopol as a cover and successfully left Russia. However, Ukraine rejected his request to enter, prompting him to explore other options. After interviewing with the Freedom of Russia Legion, Vorobyov moved to another undisclosed country, where he is looking for a way to officially join Ukrainian forces.

During his interview with Verstka, Vorobyov turned on his frontline phone to share wartime photos and found warnings from former comrades: "Be careful, you've been declared AWOL."

You Might Also Like

A Deserter's Dilemma
  • March 30, 2025

A Deserter's Dilemma

A Ukrainian man who had served with Russian forces in the  Donetsk People's Republic and was discharged has been sentenced for desertion.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955