A former official of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy, the State Committee for Reserve and the Ministry of Coal Industry was detained in Kyiv. The man is suspected of working for the Russian FSB.
According to the SBU, he proposed to annex the eastern Regions of Ukraine to the Rostov region of the Russian Federation. After leaving the civil service in 2014, he began to position himself as a "political expert" and author of publications praising the Kremlin's aggressive policy towards Ukraine.
The man travelled to the occupied Luhansk and was engaged in public activities there to the detriment of the national interests of our state, the Prosecutor General's Office added.
In September last year, he travelled to Russia and met with an employee of the 5th FSB Service, who coordinated his information and subversive activities against Ukraine.
The Russian agent also cooperated with terrorist Pasichnyk, to whom he provided "expert" recommendations on intensifying repressions against Ukrainian patriots in the temporarily occupied Luhansk.
"In addition, the defendant published posts on social media in which he proposed to "annex" the eastern Regions of Ukraine to Rostov region," the SBU added.
SBU officers documented the facts of the Russian agent's criminal activity and detained him in his own home. A forensic psychological and linguistic examination confirmed that the documentary materials prepared by the defendant at the request of the FSB were directed against the state security of Ukraine.
During the searches of the traitor's apartment and car, the SBU seized computer equipment, mobile phones and documents confirming his subversive activities in favour of the enemy.
In addition, the law enforcement officers found a "reward for cooperation" from representatives of the aggressor state, as well as prohibited communist and pro-Kremlin symbols.
Based on the evidence, SBU investigators served the detainee a notice of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- P. 1 Art. 111
- P. 1 Art. 161
A custodial measure of restraint was imposed on him. The offender faces up to 15 years in prison.