Of . – 02/04/2022 12:10 (act 02/04/2022 12:28)
It is said that the secret service general wanted to leave Ukraine. ©REUTERS/Lisi Niesner (image of symbol)
It is said that the secret service general wanted to flee Ukraine. According to the authorities, however, he could not leave the country illegally.
A retired major general of the Ukrainian secret service SBU was prevented from leaving the country illegally, officials said. At a border crossing into Hungary, the general presented false documents on Friday, according to which he was not recruited. The announcement was made by the State Investigation Department of Ukraine in Kiev. As a military rank, the man had given a rank of enlisted, ie soldier. The Major General was arrested.
President of Ukraine Zelenskyy: SBU brigade generals stripped of their ranks
In a video message Friday night, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had removed two SBU brigade generals from his military ranks. He did not comment on what the top intelligence officials were guilty of. According to the report, one of them was most recently the head of the SBU in the Cherson region of southern Ukraine, which is occupied by Russian troops.
“I don’t have time to deal with traitors,” Zelenskyy said. He expressly commended the efforts of other SBU officials in the war unleashed by Russia.
Ukrainian secret service SBU
The SBU is the successor to the former Soviet KGB secret service in Ukraine. The SBU maintained close contacts with Moscow until 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula and fueled the war in eastern Ukraine. Therefore, there have always been doubts about the loyalty of the service to the Ukrainian government.