Ex-dpty head of Intelligence Agency of Defense Ministry suspected of treason.

The former deputy head of the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has been notified of suspicion of high treason and arrested without bail, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of Ukraine has said.

"Under the procedural leadership of Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office, Major General, former Deputy Head of the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was informed of suspicion of high treason (part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)," the PGO said in Telegram channel on Friday.

According to the investigation, since 2014, the suspect was recruited and acted in the interests of Russia's special services, collected and transmitted secret information about the current military-political situation in Ukraine, as well as the forms and methods used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and law enforcement agencies in countering Russian aggression.

"At the direction of the special services of the aggressor country, he sent them information from the agencies of the Ministry of Defense, the Main Intelligence Agency, the National Academy of the Ground Forces of Sahaidachny, aviation and military-industrial state-owned enterprises on the activities of the latter, as well as undercover communications of the special services of Ukraine for a temporary occupied territory," the PGO said in the statement.

The prosecutor's office also said that in February 2022, during a search at the place of work of the suspect, he tried to shoot SBU officers who arrived to conduct investigative actions. Then he was informed of the suspicion of encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer and illegal possession of weapons (Article 348, part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

"Currently, the suspect has been chosen a measure of restraint in the form of detention without determining the amount of bail," the PGO said.

"SBU officers detained a suspect at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. During searches at the place of work, he tried to shoot representatives of the SBU investigative and operational group... A former high-ranking official used a Makarov combat pistol against law enforcement officers," Spokesperson for the Ukrainian Intelligence Agency Artem Dekhtiarenko said in a video statement posted on the SBU's Telegram channel.

According to him, the detainee was the deputy head of the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense in 2008-2010, then he worked in various positions in this department and in the leadership of the State Space Agency of Ukraine.

Tags: #ukraine #pgo #defense_ministry