Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has detained a deep-cover Belarusian KGB agent in Kyiv who allegedly tried to infiltrate the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), the agency said.
The arrest was carried out together with the DIU’s internal security unit.
Investigators say the suspect, a Belarusian citizen, had served as a career agent of the Belarusian KGB since at least 2015 and was dispatched from Minsk to Ukraine in 2020 for intelligence tasks. By the time the active phase of the operation began, the SBU had already placed her under surveillance, documenting her contacts and actions.
According to the SBU, the 35-year-old operated under the cover of journalism. At one point she worked as a correspondent for the pro-Russian TV channel 112 Kanal, linked to Viktor Medvedchuk, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. She reported across former Soviet states. After that outlet was shut down, Belarusian security services, in coordination with Belarus’s top military-political leadership, sent her to continue operating in Ukraine.
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, she secured a job at a leading Ukrainian media outlet. Using professional ties and access to the press corps, she broadened her network among Ukrainian politicians, service members and foreign diplomats, allowing her to gather sensitive information, the SBU said.
After the war began, her handler instructed her to travel to an EU country for further guidance. She crossed the border under the pretext of a medical examination, bought a separate smartphone with a one-time SIM card to communicate with a Belarusian security representative, and disposed of the device after contact.
During that briefing, she was tasked with collecting information on Belarusian and Russian nationals assisting Ukraine in resisting the aggressor state. She was also directed to establish informal contacts with staff at China’s embassy in Ukraine to obtain intelligence on the activities of Chinese diplomats.
Upon returning to Kyiv, she attempted to secure a position in a staff unit of the DIU, prompting an immediate internal security operation, according to the statement.
The SBU and DIU then ran a prolonged sting, deliberately misleading the foreign service with simulated secret data circulated only within a controlled circle around the agent. Authorities also documented attempts to identify new candidates for recruitment into the KGB’s agent network.
After gathering sufficient evidence, SBU officers working with the DIU detained the suspect near her residence. They seized a smartphone and a voice recorder that allegedly contained restricted information.
The woman was notified of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 114 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (espionage). She is in custody and faces up to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.
