Ukrainian Security Service says identifies second Russian spy

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) says it has identified a lieutenant colonel within its ranks whom it suspects of having worked for Russian security services.

“As we speak, the illegal activity of yet another Ukrainian citizen who acted to the detriment of the nation’s interests in favor of Russian intelligence agencies is being documented. Unfortunately, it is one of our officers, who holds the rank of lieutenant colonel,” the SBU’s chief investigator, Vitaliy Mayakov, said in a video posted on Youtube by the SBU on December 21.

An SBU spokesperson also said that a senior expert consultant at one of the SBU’s central offices was exposed of collaborating with Russian intelligence.

“SBU operatives established that the lieutenant colonel passed official information to the aggressor state’s representatives. He also assisted Russian intelligence services with carrying out spying-subversive activities in detriment of the national security of Ukraine,” the SBU said on its website.

SBU searches at the fixed and temporary home addresses led to the discovery of laptops and tablets containing evidence of correspondence with and transfer of information to Russian security services.

SBU officers “also seized a TT pistol, two F-1 grenades, and over 700 cartridges of varying caliber,” the SBU spokesperson said.

This is the second such case in the past 24 hours. Yesterday, it emerged that Stanislav Yezhov, an assistant and interpreter to Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, has been detained on suspicion of treason. According to the SBU, Yezhov gathered information on his boss’s foreign trips for the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.