Ukrainian border guard confesses he spied for Russian special services

Journalist Pavlo Fedaka said this, Espreso reports. 

In recent days, Ukrainian media have been actively commenting on the video which emerged in Russian media. A man introduced himself as the head of the cybersecurity department of the Mukachevo border guard detachment of Ukraine's State Border Guard Service, Ruslan Syrovyi.

"You must understand that such a person's entry into the enemy media space is authorized by the FSB and is carried out with the aim of conducting information and psychological operations against Ukraine," Fedaka emphasizes.

According to Syrov, he served in the Luhansk border guard detachment since 2009. In 2014, after the start of the ATO, he began providing intelligence to the Russian forces. In particular, in the spring of 2022, from Kreminna, he allegedly passed on information about the location of the command center of the 128th Brigade and other units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In addition, Syrovyi claims that he was wounded as a result of shelling by Russian troops and, after being hospitalized, was transferred to the Mukachevo border guard detachment in the summer of 2022.

Before that, the traitor reported that he had allegedly managed to integrate the spyware into the databases of Ukraine's State Border Guard Service.

"When carrying out such special operations, pieces of truth are usually mixed with a large share of disinformation. It is obvious that Syrovyi's information messages are designed for the Russian audience, because in his speech prepared in the bowels of the FSB, he constantly wedges worn-out clichés about the benefits of the Russian way of life, trying to discredit not only the military leadership of the Ukraine's State Border Guard Service, but also representatives of state authorities," the journalist notes.

In particular, the spy said that the "governor" of Zakarpattia, Viktor Mykyta, was selling stolen icons from the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. He also allegedly knew about the illegal activities of Volodymyr Shymoni, a deputy of the Khust City Council, nicknamed Nick, who, according to the former border guard, organized a channel for moving fugitives across the state border, charging USD 5,000 per person for services.

At the same time, Zakarpattia 24 reports that it has identified the traitor - Senior Lieutenant Ruslan Syrovyi, who had been the head of the situation monitoring group of the Veliatyno border guard department in Khust district since August 7, 2022. But on August 17, the man left for "rehabilitation" abroad. He was accompanied by his pregnant wife and 9-year-old child. The family did not return.

Law enforcers have already served the traitor a notice of suspicion

Later, the State Bureau of Investigation reported that their employees, in cooperation with the SSU and the State Border Guard Service, had served a suspicion notice in absentia to a law enforcement officer who served in the ranks of the border guards in Zakarpattia and turned out to be an agent of the Russian special services.

They stated that the native of Luhansk arrived to serve in June 2022 from Lysychansk. In August of the same year, he was appointed head of the cyber defense group of the communications department of one of the border guard units. Previously, the serviceman had no access to state secrets.

"According to intelligence, he recently illegally crossed the border with Hungary as part of a group of fugitives. A few days later, one of the Russian public media published information that the fugitive had been working as an agent of the Russian special services for a long time and was now in Moscow. The Russians claimed that he had been conducting subversive activities against Ukraine and promised to post a long interview with the traitor later," the post says. 

The traitor has been notified of suspicion of desertion and is being charged with high treason. He faces life imprisonment for this. Currently, the traitor's contacts and his ability to transmit secret data are being checked.

Disclaimer: Pursuant to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and shall not be subjected to criminal punishment until his or her guilt is proved by law and established by a court verdict of guilty.

• The day before, the Security Service had neutralized a criminal group that had been terrorizing residents of Ukraine's western border. As a result of a special operation in Zakarpattia, a deputy was detained.