The Russian Federation's FSB played a role in the dismissal of Ruslan Baranetskyy, the deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Instead, the Russians lobbied for the appointment of Andriy Naumov, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has said.
The intercepted conversations between former Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Volodymyr Sivkovych and a former head of the SBU main directorate in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Oleh Kulinich, show that Kulinich lobbied for the appointment of Naumov as first deputy head of the SBU.
According to the SBI, Kulinich collaborated with the Russian FSB. His activities were supervised by the so-called "political office" in Moscow, which was organised on the instructions of the FSB by former NSDC Deputy Secretary Volodymyr Sivkovych and a former head of the presidential administration, Andriy Klyuyev.
During the conversation, Sivkovych asked: "Isn't the Department of Counterintelligence his (former SBU head Ivan Bakanov's - ed.)?
Kulinich replied: "Well, I'll put it this way, I keep **** there, give or take. Therefore, the task is to bring 'Myslyvets' (former SBU chief Andriy Naumov - ed.) to this place."
Thus, Naumov was lobbied to be appointed Bakanov's first deputy instead of Ruslan Baranetskyy.
"Instead of Baranetskyy," Sivkovych said on the recordings.
He insisted that Naumov be appointed first deputy head of the SBU.
The Security Service of Ukraine and the State Bureau of Investigation published intercepts of conversations between the former head of the SBU directorate in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Oleh Kulinich, and his supervisor Volodymyr Sivkovych.
Oleh Kulinich was detained in July 2022 during a special operation by the SBU and the State Bureau of Investigation. He is suspected of high treason (Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), creation of a criminal organisation (Article 255), unauthorised leaving of the place of service under martial law (Article 407), possession of weapons and their illegal storage (Articles 410 and 263). Kulinich was dismissed from his post a few months before his detention, but already after the outbreak of full-scale war - in March 2022.
According to the SBU, Sivkovych, along with Klyuyev, were responsible for sending Russian intelligence agents to Ukraine. They set up an "office" with FSB officers.