SBU exposes traitors recruited by Kremlin for “external control” project in Ukraine

The SBU press center reported this, Ukrinform reports.

These individuals, based in Russia, have declared themselves the “sole legitimate government” of Ukraine and are actively promoting a plan to surrender Ukraine, as stated in the statement.

This week, the group's leaders and other Ukrainian defectors attended a so-called “unity” forum in Moscow along with Russian fascist ideologist Alexander Dugin, State Duma deputies, bloggers and war supporters.

“The entire rhetoric of the ‘conference’ revolved around Putin’s statement that in order to achieve sustainable peace in our country, it is necessary to create a transitional administration under the control of Russia and the United States for the temporary management of Ukraine,” the SBU noted.

The group consists of traitors, rebels and pro-Russian activists who fled to Russia before the full-scale invasion began.

According to the SBU, the head of this network is Dmytro Vasilets, the leader of the banned party “Derzhava”, who has already been convicted in absentia for supporting Russian armed aggression. He recruited several accomplices, including:

Valentin Rybin, a lawyer for Anatoly Shar, who is accused of treason; Oleksandr Skubchenko, a so-called “political expert” who previously appeared on Viktor Medvedchuk’s TV channels and is now a regular guest on Russian propaganda shows; Oleksandr Semenchenko, deputy head of the banned Derzhava party, previously based in Kyiv but now hiding in Russia; Pavlo Onishchenko, an activist and leader of the pro-Kremlin group Slobozhanska Sich; Viktor Malafeyev, a propagandist who, in addition to making anti-Ukrainian statements on Russian television, collects “donations” to buy weapons for the Russian occupiers; Maksim Shikhaleyev, a pro-Russian agitator in Crimea who supported the 2014 annexation and subsequently collaborated with the Russian authorities.

The SBU also reported that these individuals created a fake government website imitating official Ukrainian portals, launched an “online referendum” on the future of Ukraine, and even developed a fake version of the “Diia” government services platform to manipulate the voting results.

According to the investigation materials, after creating an anti-Ukrainian center in Moscow, the group received instructions from its Russian curators to open branches in EU countries as “alternative” diplomatic missions of Ukraine.

Based on the evidence collected, SBU investigators charged the suspects under Part 1 of Article 109 and Part 1 of Article 28 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for actions aimed at the violent overthrow of the constitutional order or the seizure of state power, including by prior conspiracy as part of a group of persons.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin proposed holding talks on introducing external “temporary management” in Ukraine. In response, Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmitry Litvin sarcastically suggested that Putin take medication to “activate brain function.”

Meanwhile, a White House National Security Council spokesman stressed that governance in Ukraine is determined by its Constitution and the country's political system.

Photo: SBU