The former first deputy head of the SBU Department for the Protection of National Statehood, Major General Serhii Duka, who is being held in custody on suspicion in the "Carthage" case, announced that in the near future we will see powerful results of an operation on enemy territory prepared by the combat unit he headed, UNN writes.
Duka’s lawyer, Yurii Sukhov, published the information on his Facebook page.
"Well, Major General of the SBU Serhii Duka is announcing good news in the near future regarding the results of the activities of the combat unit he directly headed. The operation to deliver a powerful strike against the enemy was planned and prepared for a long time, while he was still in office. And now, finally, we are awaiting final confirmation!" Sukhov wrote, adding no further details.
Earlier, Sukhov published a letter from Duka sent from the pre-trial detention center.
"I can be isolated from service. But I cannot be forced to renounce what I served Ukraine for," Duka wrote.
In the letter, he also noted that as recently as a week before his detention, he had been directing covert operations against the enemy. It is likely that the results of one of these special operations will soon become publicly known.
"I devoted 26 years of my life to serving Ukraine, the last five to fighting the Russian aggressor. During this time, there were dozens of operations that I have no right to talk about. There were risks, losses, difficult decisions and results that Ukrainians may learn about only after the war. Or perhaps they will never learn about them," Duka also wrote.
The major general also noted that intelligence services around the world actively involve people from various backgrounds in carrying out assigned tasks.
"This is not about justifying crimes, but about a necessary component of operational work. Contact with a source of information in itself does not make anyone a member of a criminal organization, yet that is precisely what I am accused of," he stressed, adding that his silence was not an admission of guilt but the preservation of state secrets.
Addendum
On November 4, detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau detained SBU General Serhii Duka as part of the investigation into the "Carthage" case.
According to law enforcement officials, the operation exposed a criminal organization whose participants, according to the investigators’ version, systematically provided illicit benefits to senior law enforcement officials in exchange for ensuring the unhindered operation of fraudulent call centers and other illegal businesses. Major General Duka is charged with participation in a criminal organization using his official position. At the same time, according to his defense lawyer, the case contains no specific evidence that Duka knowingly joined a criminal organization and facilitated its activities.
The High Anti-Corruption Court remanded SBU General Serhii Duka in custody for 60 days, with the alternative of posting bail in the amount of UAH 65 million.