A top government official and a business executive have been detained in Ukraine because they are allegedly connected to a Russian spy network, the Security Service of Ukraine announced on Tuesday.
The two suspects were identified by the Security Service (SBU) as a department head at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a senior official in the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers.
SBU said in a Telegram statement that it had carried out a “multi-stage special operation” to disrupt the alleged spy ring.
“As a result: in Kyiv, the head of a department of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers and the head of one of the directorates of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry were detained,” the SBU said.
“These officials passed on various intelligence information to the enemy: from the state of our defence capability to arrangements at the state border and personal data of Ukrainian law enforcement officers.”
Russia did not respond immediately to the SBU statement.
In a video, the two main suspects are shown sitting in front of a Ukrainian flag and claiming to have worked with Moscow, with whom Ukraine has been at war since Russia invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24.
It was unclear whether they were under duress when they spoke.
The SBU said Russia paid the suspects from $2,000 to $15,000 per task, depending on the level of secrecy and the importance of the information. One of the men said in the video he had received a total of $33,000 for his activities, and the other said he received $27,000.
One, who had the code name “Kireev”, said he had collaborated since 2016. The other said he had done so since 2019.
