The Sunday Times reports that a Moscow-based Russian intelligence network, operating from an office complex at 12 Krasnopresnenskaya, successfully penetrated the highest levels of President Zelenskyy’s government through a carefully orchestrated infiltration operation during Zelenskyy’s campaign in 2019. The high-ranking spy who held one of the top positions in Ukraine’s SBU security service was arrested in 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
According to the newspaper, Volodymyr Sivkovych, a former deputy chief of Ukraine’s National Security Council who fled to Russia after being accused of ordering the killing of pro-European protesters in 2014, runs the network. Ukrainian authorities say he now works for the FSB and orchestrated a network of Russian agents in Ukraine, Britain, and the US.
The key operative in this network, The Sunday Times says, was Oleh Kulinich, who rose to become head of the SBU’s Crimea department.
“Kulinich was the most valued Russian FSB agent in Ukraine,” a senior Ukrainian counterintelligence official told the newspaper, comparing his impact to that of Kim Philby’s infiltration of MI6, uncovered in the 1960s.
US lawyer’s role
The operation reportedly began taking shape in April 2018 when Marcus Cohen, an American lawyer, met with Sivkovych in Vienna. Cohen was initially contracted to gather information about corruption investigations, but the relationship evolved.
According to messages seen by The Sunday Times, Cohen was aware he was dealing with intelligence operatives, noting in one message that he was sitting with a “‘former’ KGB General and an SBU Commander.”
Campaign infiltration
The Sunday Times reports that Cohen facilitated Kulinich’s introduction to Zelenskyy’s 2019 presidential campaign team as a pro bono political expert. Documents reviewed by the newspaper show that Sivkovych in Moscow funded campaign contractors through shell companies, including a $185,250 contract with a newly-formed London firm, Global Analytica, for security services.
After Zelenskyy’s election victory, Kulinich was appointed to head the SBU’s Crimea department in 2020. Prosecutors say he used this position to undermine Ukraine’s defenses, with an SBU officer telling the newspaper that “Kulinich managed to destabilize the work of this SBU directorate” and used anti-terrorism training to identify defensive weaknesses.
Arrest and aftermath
According to The Sunday Times, Kulinich was arrested on 16 July 2022, accused of passing state secrets to Russia. The newspaper reports that evidence found on a Moscow computer and in a Kyiv apartment included photos of Kulinich with Sivkovych family members abroad and messages between the two.
The arrest reportedly triggered a major purge of the SBU, leading to the dismissal of SBU chief Ivan Bakanov and his replacement by Vasyl Maliuk, the counterintelligence officer who uncovered Kulinich’s alleged activities.
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