Pro-Russian Ukrainian MP arrested on suspicion of treason
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the Office of the Prosecutor General detained a member of the IX convocation of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s Parliament) from the pro-Russian Opposition Platform – For Life party, which is banned in Ukraine, on 6 September. This MP was wanted on suspicion of treason.
Source: SSU
Details: The investigation suggests that the suspect was recruited by the FSB long before the start of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine and actively performed the tasks of the Russian secret service.
The case file says he established "an effective mechanism of influence on the leadership of one of Ukraine's law enforcement agencies".
The MP was detained on 6 September and taken to court, which imposed the previously chosen preventive detention measure on him.
The SSU did not name the person, but it is likely to be Fedir Khrystenko, who was to be extradited from Dubai.
Background:
- On 21 July, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office announced that they had exposed Khrystenko for treason. The case files indicate that he is a top agent of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and was responsible for increasing Russian influence on the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
- On 6 August, Ukrainska Pravda reported that SSU officers were seeking evidence from Khrystenko against detectives of the NABU, who feature in an SSU operation to "neutralise Russian influence" on anti-corruption bodies.
- In December 2023, Skhemy, an investigative journalism project, discovered that Khrystenko had left Ukraine on 14 February 2022 and was living in the UAE in a 173-square-metre apartment.
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