2021-02-01T18:05:00+02:00 Politics 2024-09-15T09:05:48+03:00

Ukrainian news

SSU Uncovers Russian Network Of Intelligence Agents Engaging In Destabilization Of Situation In Ukraine Via Te

SSU Uncovers Russian Network Of Intelligence Agents Engaging In Destabilization Of Situation In Ukraine Via Telegram Channels

Employees of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) have uncovered a network of Russian intelligence agents engaging in destabilization of the situation in Ukraine through Telegram channels.

The SSU’s press service said announced this in a statement, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"SSU officers have uncovered a large-scale intelligence network that was engaging in intelligence and subversive activities on the orders of Russian intelligence agencies. During a long special operation, SSU operatives established that the intelligence network was created by the so-called 85th Main Center of the Special Service of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces," the statement said.

According to the statement, the network included residents of Kharkiv and Odesa and the so-called "Russian spring" activists.

They are currently based on the territory of the Russian-controlled Transdnistrian Moldavian Republic in Tiraspol.

Russian intelligence agencies recruited Ukrainian citizens to participate in the creation and administration of a number of national and regional political channels in the Telegram application.

These channels include "Lehitimnyi,” "Resident," "Cartel," "Gossip," "Black Quarter," "Political Alignment," "Atypical Zaporizhia," "Trempel Kharkiv," "Odesa Fraer," "Dnipro Live," "Mykolaiv Live," and "Kherson Live."

According to the statement, it has been established that the main coordinator of the network of intelligence agents is an Odesa citizen, who was one of the organizers of the Odesa "Anti-Maidan" riots.

He is currently wanted by law enforcement agencies for committing offenses under several articles of the Criminal Code.

In addition, SSU officers have detained a citizen of Ukraine, who is one of the key people involved in the case, in Kyiv. She and another member of the intelligence network have been served with notification of suspicion of committing a crime under Article 111 (high treason) of the Criminal Code.

The head of the intelligence network has also been served with notification of suspicion in absentia. He is believed to be hiding abroad.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, cyber police received 49,500 complaints about fraud and other cybercrimes from citizens in 2020.