The Security Service of Ukraine is working proactively to counter the enemy's intelligence and subversive activities, having already uncovered 11 covert networks since the beginning of 2024.
During a speech at the Congress of Local and Regional Councils under the President of Ukraine, SSU Chairman Vasyl Malyuk emphasized the importance of preventive measures and new counterintelligence approaches in the agency's work. He highlighted that the SSU doesn't just apprehend individual traitors but unravels entire networks. In 2023, the SSU exposed 47 covert networks, with all perpetrators apprehended. Since the beginning of this year, 11 more networks have been uncovered.
The SSU's efforts aim to prevent the enemy from infiltrating critical infrastructure sites, including through cyberspace. It also blocks attempts to gather intelligence on the movement routes of international aid, the locations of defense industry enterprises, and more.
Recent successes include the apprehension of an FSB agent in Dnipro, who was surveilling and collecting imagery of a local thermal power station while preparing for hostile missile strikes. Additionally, a former police officer in Zaporizhzhia was arrested for monitoring defense industry facilities, along with several Ukrzaliznytsia employees who provided information to the enemy regarding the logistics of moving weapons and munitions.
Chairman Malyuk reiterated the SSU's commitment to President Volodymyr Zelensky's directive to preempt any threats, emphasizing the agency's role in safeguarding citizens' lives and national security.
He also reported that since the beginning of 2024, the SBU has initiated 352 criminal proceedings for state treason (with 98 convictions), 807 for collaboration activities (with 177 convictions), 108 for aiding the aggressor state (with 7 convictions), and 66 for disclosing information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the enemy (with 19 convictions).
One significant case highlighted by Chairman Malyuk involved an FSB agent who directed a missile strike on the center of Kramatorsk in June 2023, resulting in a life sentence.
Regular counterterrorism and counter-diversion measures are among the preventive tools employed to detect enemy agents. Chairman Malyuk expressed gratitude to all defense forces for their frontline efforts in bringing Victory closer.