A husband and wife from Ashkelon were indicted on Thursday on espionage charges after allegedly carrying out intelligence-gathering missions for an Iranian agent over a three-month period, the police and Shin Bet announced on Thursday.

According to the indictment, they photographed sensitive sites across Israel, received thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency, and continued carrying out missions even after realizing they were acting on Iran’s behalf.

The State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment with the Tel Aviv District Court against Israeli citizen Tamerlan Amshukov, 26, and Ukrainian citizen Alina Kushnirko, 24.

According to the indictment, Amshukov was in contact with “Aslan,” an Iranian agent, on Telegram. “Aslan” offered Amshukov paid assignments involving surveillance, photography, and monitoring of locations and individuals throughout Israel, with payment made in cryptocurrency. According to the indictment, Amshukov accepted the offer and recruited his wife to assist.

The couple photographed the Ramat Aviv Mall and were instructed to identify areas without security cameras. They also photographed the Mount Herzl military cemetery and museum, including IDF soldiers, hours before the state ceremony attended by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The couple is also accused of photographing the homes of security personnel and an employee of a defense company. In addition, they filmed the Eilat promenade and port and were instructed to approach a military port and photograph naval vessels.

The indictment further states that the Iranian agent instructed Amshukov to travel to Eilat and purchase an advanced cellphone with high-quality camera capabilities for the missions, providing him with thousands of shekels for the purchase. Additional assignments offered to the couple included installing a hidden camera facing buildings in Haifa, recruiting taxi drivers, and collecting a package expected to arrive by sea.

During questioning, the two admitted that they eventually realized they were working on behalf of Iran but continued carrying out the assignments for financial compensation.

The couple was arrested in July during a joint operation by Lahav 433 and the Shin Bet. The indictment was filed today in the Tel Aviv District Court together with a request to keep them in custody until the conclusion of legal proceedings.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)