The Security Service of Ukraine and the State Bureau of Investigation have published intercepts of conversations between Oleh Kulinich, former chief of the SSU Main Directorate in the Crimea, who was detained by the SSU earlier, and his handler, former deputy secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine, Volodymyr Sivkovych.

These interceptions are part of the criminal proceeding completed by the SBI. After the defendant familiarizes himself with the case, it will be submitted to court.

In July 2022, the SSU detained Oleh Kulinich as a result of a special operation conducted jointly with the SBI. He was served a notice of suspicion of high treason (Article 111 of the CCU), creation of a criminal organization (Article 255), unauthorized leaving of the place of service under martial law (Article 407), appropriating weapons and their illegal storing (Articles 410 and 263).

‘We did our best not only to detain the top state traitor, but also collect a strong evidence base to enable the court to pass a fair verdict. This is a clear signal to all those working for the enemy: the SSU will surely find and hold you to account for your crimes, no matter where you are hiding. Every mole will be dragged out into the light,’ the SSU Head, Major General Vasyl Maliuk emphasized.

As was noted earlier, Vasyl Maliuk was personally involved in the investigation of Kulinich and the special operation to detain him.

‘The SSU carried out an unprecedented, highly complex operation, including an agent and technical infiltration of the FSB. We obtained all the files in which Kulinich reported information to moscow, including classified data, on the situation in Ukraine, in the Service, attempts to influence various processes,’ the SSU Head said.

Among other things, investigators established that Oleh Kulinich had cooperated with russia’s FSB and had used an operational nickname ‘Kotyhoroshko’.

His activities were supervised by the so-called ‘political office’ in moscow, set up on the FSB’s instructions by former NSDC deputy secretary Volodymyr Sivkovych and former head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Andriy Kliuyev.

Kulinich fulfilled the assignments given to him by his handlers to conduct intelligence and subversive activities against Ukraine, espionage, place ‘his people’ in various government and law enforcement agencies, and incite citizens to treason.

According to the SSU Head Vasyl Maliuk, this office in moscow is sort of a ‘mole farm’. ‘Its main task is to collect information and work on Ukraine. Employees of the FSB’s 5th service are part of this office. And they, together with Sivkovich, directly interacted with Kulinich. After he passed the intelligence, they reported to the FSB,’ Vasyl Maliuk explained.

The SSU Head has repeatedly highlighted that today self-cleansing of the SSU from moles and traitors is one of the priorities.

‘Self-cleansing of the SSU is extremely important, especially during the war. We are making every effort in this area. We find shameful phenomena in the Service and localize them. The SSU personnel, the state leadership are aware of this, and I hope the people of Ukraine feel it too,’ the SSU Head summed up.