KYIV: Ukraine said on Wednesday that it had detained a high-ranking official within its security services who was allegedly working for Russia.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv claims to have detained or convicted hundreds of people -- including senior officials and security officers -- for allegedly aiding or collaborating with Moscow.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on Wednesday that the head of the agency Vasyl Maliuk had personally carried out the arrest and that President Volodymyr Zelensky was informed of the “complex” operation to gather evidence against the suspect.
“The chief-of-staff of the SBU Anti-Terrorist Centre was working for the enemy,“ the SBU said in a statement posted on social media.
It said it had documented more than 14 instances of illegal activity by the suspect, who was not named. In a video published with the statement, Maliuk said a high treason investigation was opened.
The SBU described the operation as both “extremely complex” and “multi-stage”, adding that it had revealed how the suspect collected and transmitted information to Russia.
It also said it had also used the suspect to feed “disinformation” to Russia.
Maliuk said the man had been working with the Ukrainian intelligence service since 2016, when Russia was backing anti-Kyiv separatists in eastern Ukraine.
“No matter how hard the enemy tries to infiltrate our ranks -- it thinks he has all the possible forms and methods of secrecy -- it will not succeed. Because we detect, document and detain them in a timely manner,“ Maliuk said.
