Alleged Russian intelligence agent caught outside Kyiv claiming to be FSB general (PHOTOS)

Captured on the outskirts of Kyiv, he was identified as Nikolai Grechishkin of Moscow and was allegedly using
journalistic cover as the deputy chief editor of Rossiyskiye Novosti (Russian
News), according to an SBU statement released on Oct. 24.

At a briefing the same day, SBU
chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko told journalists that Grechishkin was most
recently responsible for orchestrating the Oct. 13 rally of National Guardsmen at
the presidential office who demanded their discharge after serving the
requisite six months.

“He isn’t just detained,
we’re saying this puppeteer, who has been living in Kyiv Oblast the last month,
organized and coordinated the following offenses: inciting provocation of
so-called protests near the Presidential Administration,” Nalyvaichenko told
journalists.

During his arrest,
according to the SBU statement, Grechishkin claimed to be a general in Russia’s
Federal Security Service, the nation’s KGB-successor agency. Meanwhile, the SBU
says he is a commissioned Russian officer and a former marine who is an
FSB-recruited agent.

An expired identification card as the aide to a Russian member of parliament was found among the personal effects of alleged Russian agent Nikolai Grechishkin on Oct. 23. (sbu.gov.ua)

Since April, when military
activity in eastern Ukraine started, Grechishkin allegedly coordinated the
activity of armed separatist group leaders at the behest of the FSB. He
assisted in organizational matters and helped procure resources.

“He established,
organized, coordinated and supported sustained clandestine contacts with leaders
of terrorist organizations DNR (Donetsk People’s Republic) and LNR (Luhansk
People’s Republic),” reads the statement.

This Russian-made RPG-26 Aglen anti-tank rocket launcher was allegedly found inside the Kyiv Oblast residence of purported Russian intelligence agent Nikolai Grechishkin on Oct. 23 by Ukrainian Security Service officers. (sbu.gov.ua)

The alleged Russian agent
also purportedly organized the supply of armored Russia Tigr vehicles to
eastern Ukraine, 130 tank men from Sverdlovsk in Russia, and volunteers from “radical
kozak groups inside Russia,” the SBU said.

He was also responsible
for allegedly securing the transport of dead Russian soldiers killed in action
from Ukraine and for hiding their bodies in-country.

A Russian-manufactured RPG-26 Aglen anti-tank rocket launcher was found
at his residence in Kyiv Oblast. Among his personal effects were an expired parliamentary
aide identification card, journalistic accreditation, and business cards of
high-level to personnel in Russia’s Defense Ministry and Migration Service,
according to the SBU.