Last week, there was a meeting between Budanov and Malyuk, the heads of the Ukrainian secret services. Information about the important conversations between the two officials was widely circulated by local news channels. The men took a photo together and argued that their organizations together help defend Ukraine and defeat the Russian aggressors.
This information is not random. On January 18, the American “Wall Street Journal” described the story of Denis Gray’s mysterious death. Ukrainian financier – revealed by the head of military intelligence HUR – collaborator of the service. He has to provide the intelligence with the most valuable information about the initial phase of the war, distribution etc. They were aware of the expected attack on the airfield at Hostomal, which was very important to the Russians.
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Mysterious death of spy banker
This is important because before the outbreak of war, the HUR and its leader argued in a very confident voice that invasion was inevitable. The aforementioned Creave should provide a lot of information in this regard. He worked in several banks and had close ties to people in President Yanukovych’s administration. He has also traveled to Russia several times. However, all this had to happen under the control of Ukrainian services, and after the outbreak of war in 2014, Grave had to equip Ukrainian volunteers with his own money.
His work for HUR must have been very valuable and important. Grave was included among Ukrainian diplomats when Russian and Ukrainian representatives met in Belarus in late February to discuss the terms of a possible ceasefire. A few days later, he died under mysterious circumstances.
He was shot dead by Ukrainian security forces on March 5 last year. How did that happen? He was detained on his way to a meeting with Oleksandr Poklad, head of the SBU’s counterintelligence department. It is not known what happened after that, because Greve’s security was high. According to the Wall Street Journal, the banker himself was captured by the SBU and taken away in another car.
An hour and a half later, the financier’s bodyguards were shown his body. He was killed by the SBU, allegedly for treason. Kriyev was buried with military honors, and President Volodymyr Zelensky decorated him posthumously.
Changes in the Ukrainian government
Four months after the death of the banker – in July 2022 – Ivan Baganov was dismissed as the head of the SBU. He was Zelensky’s friend and close associate. Vasil Maljuk took his place. An officer from the Organized Crime and Corruption Unit – the main thing – was appointed as acting chairman. To date, he has not been appointed as the full head of the Security Service of Ukraine.
Can he get an appointment? This may be resolved in the coming days. Ukrainian media reports on the possibility of drastic changes in local government. Up to eight ministers can resign. We should also soon know the name of the new head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior, who will take over after the tragic death of Denis Monastyrsky, who died in a helicopter crash near Kiev on January 18.
Controversies are kept in your pocket
However, returning to Maljuk and Budanov, it should be remembered that despite official guarantees of cooperation, the two services were competing for the post. In recent days, there have been a series of reports of the dismissal and detention of high-ranking Ukrainian officials on corruption charges. Those who lost their posts were the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, the Deputy Minister of Defense and two regional governors. In the case of the deputy head of the Ukrainian Ministry of National Defense, it was severe because there were allegations of raising food prices for the military. However, only four days ago there was information about the detention of a lieutenant colonel of the SBU, who was supposed to pass information to the Russians, on charges of espionage. Suspicions about Ukraine’s security service and some of its officers’ ties to Russia have been raised since the start of the nearly year-long war.
More after describing the situation with Kriev. The head of the HUR, General Budanov, in an interview with Ukrainian radio Svoboda, directly stated that Grayev was a collaborator of the service. Therefore, the question of what made one special service kill the collaborator of another is reasonable. It seems that the two bosses met and released a press release to the media about good cooperation to avoid a split.
However, this is not the end. It is no great secret that General Budanov had great ambitions, hoping to separate the military’s counterintelligence control capabilities from the SBU and transfer them to the new Military Intelligence and Counterintelligence Service. The plan failed in the Ukrainian parliament. However, recently, new ones have appeared, changing and strengthening the role of the SBU in the state security system.
Who will emerge victorious from the conflict? It is difficult to predict. However, for now, the “cleansing” is taking place in Ukraine. In the face of war and a threat to the state’s existence, news of the unexplained death of a banker-agent and reports of corruption among politicians should raise concerns among the international coalition supporting Ukraine. This could signal a meeting between the two heads of the secret services. However, there are doubts. At least for now, the two bosses should keep their anger and mutual suspicions in their pockets.
Łukasz Maziewski, journalist at o2.pl