Ukrainian law enforcement officers have completed a pre-trial investigation against the director and 19 officers of the FSB, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as the former Head, First Deputy Head and Head of a department of the Security Service of Ukraine. The indictment has been sent to court. This was stated by the State Bureau of Investigation, reports UNN.
Details
It is noted that in the spring, SBI officers served a notice of suspicion to FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov of organizing high treason by the former SBU leadership, inciting national hatred and enmity in Ukraine, and illegally obstructing protests in 2013-2014.
Almost 20 high-ranking officials of the Russian special services have also been notified of suspicion. Among them are Viktor Zolotov, Director of the Federal Service of the Russian Guard, and other generals of the Russian Federal Security Service.
In particular, among the accused:
- Director of the Russian Federal Security Service, Army General Alexander Bortnikov;
- Viktor Zolotov, former head of the Presidential Security Service of the Russian Federation, currently Director of the Federal Service of the National Guard, Army General;
- Head of the 2nd Service (Service for the Protection of the Constitutional Order and the Fight against Terrorism) of the FSB, Colonel-General Alexei Sedov;
- Deputy Head of the 2nd Service of the FSB of the Russian Federation - Head of the Department for the Protection of the Constitutional Order, Lieutenant General Alexei Zhalo;
- First Deputy Head of the Department for the Protection of the Constitutional Order of the 2nd Service of the FSB, Major General Sergei Egorov;
- First Deputy Head of the Operational Information Department of the 5th Service (Operational Information and International Relations) of the FSB, Major General Vladimir Pavlik;
- former officer of the 2nd service of the FSB of the Russian Federation, now Deputy Head of the FSB Department in Moscow, Major General Andrey Yatsenko;
- Oleksandr Yakymenko, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, who voluntarily took up the post of head of the occupation security body of the temporarily occupied territory of Kherson region;
- Serhiy Hanzha, head of the SBU Department for the Protection of National Statehood, who voluntarily took up the position of head of the occupation security body of the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region;
- Head of the Anti-Terrorist Center at the SSU, former Major General and First Deputy Head of the SSU.
Investigators of the Bureau, with the assistance of the Security Service of Ukraine, collected evidence of subversive activities of the Russian special service and personally the head of the Russian Federal Security Service against Ukraine.
It has been established that Bortnikov developed a criminal plan to suppress Ukrainian protests in 2013-2014 in order to preserve the regime in power in Ukraine at the time. The ultimate goal was the further annexation of part of the territory of Ukraine under the pretext of an alleged “civil confrontation”.
One of the key tasks of the Russian Federal Security Service was to prevent Ukraine's European integration and membership in the North Atlantic Alliance's collective security treaty, as this threatened Russia's aggressive plans to restore the union state and absorb former Soviet republics into its fold
Investigators found out that Ukraine's top leadership's rejection of European integration was planned in advance by Russia, so measures were taken in advance to prevent protests and scenarios were developed to disperse them by force.
Справи Майдану: Сівковичу оголосили підозру в держзраді20.02.24, 11:24
To this end, in October 2013, the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, visited our country and instructed the leadership of the National Security and Defense Council, including Deputy Secretary Sivkovych, to disperse potential protests with maximum brutality and use excessive force to intimidate other activists.
It is noted that on the instructions of the head of the Russian Federal Security Service, Bortnikov , the First Deputy Head of the SBU, the head of the Anti-Terrorist Center, in November-December 2013, put his subordinate special forces on “High” alert. The level of terrorist threat was defined as “Potential”, which essentially equated the protesters with potential terrorists.
The grounds for such decisions were false memos from the head of the SBU Department of National Statehood regarding possible terrorist threats from the protesters, approved by the Head of the SBU.
In December 2013, the Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, on the instructions of the Deputy Commander of the Internal Troops of the Russians, began preparations for the forceful dispersal and execution of activists, for which purpose he sent a letter to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine on 12.12.2013 on the free transfer of 4 million rounds of ammunition, 100 thousand VOG-25 grenade launchers, and other military equipment to the Internal Troops
In addition, on the instructions of the Director of the FSB and at the invitation of the former Head of the SBU, a group of 20 FSB officers arrived in Kyiv on December 13, 2013, to instruct Ukrainian law enforcement officers in countering Euromaidan.
On the instructions of the Russian Federal Security Service, supported by the leadership of the SBU, Ukrainian law enforcement officers collected video recordings that provoked social conflicts between Maidan participants and its opponents. The materials were published on the Internet on a specially created YouTube channel and reports on the work done were sent to the FSB.
It is noted that the former head of the SBU and the head of the Service's SZND in 2022 went over to the side of the enemy, and therefore the SBU brought them to criminal responsibility for treason under martial law.
They also took up senior “positions” in illegally created security agencies in the partially occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, and their actions were additionally qualified by SBI investigators under Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In particular, they are accused:
- FSB Director Bortnikov is accused of organizing high treason by the former leadership of the SBU, inciting national hatred and enmity in Ukraine, and unlawfully obstructing protest actions in 2013-2014 (Article 27(3), Article 28(2), Article 111(1), Article 28(2), Article 161(2), Article 28(2), Article 340 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- The FSB officers are accused of unlawfully obstructing protest actions (part 5 of Article 27, part 2 of Article 28, part 1 of Article 111, part 2 of Article 28, part 2 of Article 161, part 2 of Article 28, part 340 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- the former Head of the SBU, Head of the SBU Department for the Protection of National Statehood - of high treason by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, incitement to national and religious hatred and hatred, and a new suspicion of unlawful obstruction of protest actions, voluntary occupation of positions in the security agencies of the aggressor state in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine (para. 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 111, Part 2 of Article 28, Article 161, Part 2 of Article 28, Article 340, Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- the First Deputy Head of the SBU - Head of the Anti-Terrorist Center - of high treason by prior conspiracy, incitement to national and religious hatred and enmity, and a new suspicion of unlawful obstruction of protest actions (Article 28(2), Article 111(1), Article 28(2), Article 161, Article 28(2), Article 340).
SBI officers, in cooperation with the SBU and the Prosecutor General's Office, completed a pre-trial investigation against the director and 19 officers of the FSB, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as the former Head, First Deputy Head and Head of a department of the Security Service of Ukraine. The indictment was sent to court. In addition, the indictment was sent to the email address of the Russian Federal Security Service to bring its contents to the attention of the accused
The maximum penalty for committing these crimes is imprisonment for up to 15 years.
Recall
As of February 2024, over the four years of the Maidan investigation, 239 suspicions have been served , and 117 indictments against 211 people have been sent to court.