Ex-SBU head urges Zelenskyy to execute 'clean out' after top Ukraine official's 'treason'

The Ukrainian forces are eyeinga a “cleanout” of the country’s key security service after a high-ranking Ukrainian intelligence agent was accused of spying for Russia. A former deputy head of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), told The Guardian, that the Zelenskyy administration should conduct a "cleanout" in the intelligence arm of the Ukrainian forces. The assertion by the Ukrainian diplomat came after the Ukrainian SBU arrested a lieutenant colonel over suspicion of “high treason”.

The Ukrainian Security Service gave out the news of the arrest of the spy on Thursday. The authorities then went on the publish a photograph of bundles of cash which was found in his home. After the news of the arrest came to light, Maj Gen Viktor Yahun, who served as the deputy head of the SBU until 2015, asserted that there is a need for a thorough cleanout of the service. Yahun stated that the cleanout is needed since some of the members have “overly close relationships” with their Russian counterparts.

The former deputy then went on to state that many who are in the service “still considered themselves Russian”. “They grew up with the same values as their fathers,” said Yahun. “Ukraine made a major mistake in not following the lead of the Baltic nations following independence in reforming the security services from ground zero,” he added.

However, Ukrainian officials claim that things are getting better after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “cleaned the top ranks”.

“It is getting better and since 24 February President Zelenskyy has cleaned the top ranks, so I do not believe any vital strategic information has been passed to Russia. Now they are moving their way down the ranks,” Yahun exclaimed. 

The arrest of the lieutenant over treason

On Thursday, the Ukrainian Security Service reported that they have arrested a Ukrainian lieutenant colonel and accused him of “high treason”. According to The Guardian, the unnamed colonel was accused of using his mobile phone to photograph documents about the location of the military checkpoint in Zaporizhzhia. The region of Zaporizhizhia has witnessed the brunt of the Russia-Ukraine war to a great extent. The colonel was also accused of sending sensitive information via an email account that was registered on a Russian domain. 

Speaking further about the need to be concerned about the issue, Yahun asserted that some of the SBU agents had “been bribed” and “blackmailed” into working in Moscow.  “Others just regard themselves as Russian,” he said. “There was an arrest of a woman in her 40s working in the SBU who had been found to have been sharing Russian propaganda on social media,” he added.