Hrytsak: there are Russian agents among SBU employees
People who cooperate with Russian special services are working in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), including those who are at high positions, the head of the SBU Vasyl Hrytsak stated it in an interview to Interfax-Ukraine. Employees of the department have detained "counterintelligence agents" themselves, including colonels and lieutenant colonels on suspicion of working for Russian special services.
He explained that before the change of power in 2014 "favorable conditions existed for agents of the special services of Russia." Moscow, according to Hrytsak, "uses many mechanisms" to interfere with the internal affairs of Ukraine. The priority task for Russia is the recruitment of "top officials," law enforcement officials, judges, and deputies, the head of the SBU declared. Through such people, it not only receives information, but also tries to influence Ukrainian politics, he stated.
Hrytsak said that he was "convinced" that in the future additional arrests of people working for the Russian special services would follow.
The head of the Ukrainian special services also touched upon the arrest of the assistant to the Prime Minister of the country on charges of working for the Russian special services, saying that "the Cabinet of Ministers helped us to detect the official from the Cabinet." The Prime Minister, Volodymyr Groysman, cooperated with the SBU, and thanks to this, he managed to "prevent information from being leaked to the enemy," explained Hrytsak.
This official was detained on December 20th. The SBU said that Stanislav Yezhov "collected information about the activities of the government with the help of special equipment” and transferred it back to Russia. It was announced in the Verkhovna Rada that he had been working for the Russian special services for at least two years. The case of treason regarding Yezhov was brought to the court.
The following day the Kremlin would not comment on Yezhov's arrest. The Press Secretary for the President, Dmitry Peskov, stated that he had seen the news about it, but he has no additional information.
The day after Yezhov’s arrest it was reported in the Ukrainian special services that they exposed one of their own employees who worked in one of the "central units," that sent official information to Moscow, the SBU explained.