Top Ukrainian Security Official Detained For Alleged Collaboration With Russia's FSB

April 14, 2020

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) says one of its top officials has been detained on suspicion of collaborating with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

In an April 14 statement, the SBU said General Valeriy Shaytanov is suspected of high treason and terrorism and that it had gathered evidence, including audio and video recordings, to corroborate its case.

According to the SBU, Shaytanov started working for the FSB in 2014 and since had committed several crimes, including allegedly planning to murder Adam Osmayev, the leader of Chechen volunteers who fought on the Ukrainian side against Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's east.

Ukrainian-Russian relations have been strained since 2014 when Russia seized Ukraine's Crimea region after sending in troops and staging a referendum deemed illegitimate by at least 100 countries.

In April that year, Russia threw its support behind armed separatists in eastern Ukraine, where some 13,200 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/top-ukrainian-security- official-detained-for-alleged-collaboration- with-russia-s-fsb/30554391.html

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