The suspected double agent within Ukraine’s intelligence service had been recruited before the war started but was only activated this spring, according to reports
Ukraine has detained a suspected high-ranking traitor inside its military intelligence directorate who “passed details of clandestine operations to Moscow”.
The revelation of the GUR lieutenant-colonel acting as a “mole” is a devastating blow for Ukraine. The unnamed double agent had been recruited before the war started but was only activated this spring, according to reports. The suspect now faces life imprisonment and confiscation of property if convicted.
Using his high-level position, he allegedly passed details of Ukrainian operations in Crimea and other occupied areas to his Russian spymasters. He has access to information on planned routes, weapons and targets of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SOF).
Russia “planned to use this information to liquidate Ukrainian special forces on the front line or beyond it”. The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, was closely involved in the arrest of the suspected mole.
The revelation of a spy inside the ranks of the GUR is a serious setback for the agency’s boss Lt General Kyrylo Budanov, seen in Kyiv as one of the outstanding heroes of the war. The handcuffed colonel is pictured from behind after being taken into detention. His means of secret communication, computer equipment, mobile phone and information storage devices were seized.
The operation to unmask and detain the suspected agent was carried out by the SBU – Ukraine’s security service – along with military counterintelligence. “The SOF continues to carry out tasks, destroy the enemy and liberate the Ukrainian land from the occupiers,” said a statement after his arrest.
And all those who think they can prevent this and put the lives of our soldiers at risk will be exposed and sent to jail. “The enemy will feel the results of successful operations on himself.”
