Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) Chief Vasyl Maliuk personally led the arrest of a top-level traitor within the agency’s Anti-Terrorist Center on 12 February 2025, culminating a sophisticated operation that had turned the Russian spy into an unwitting tool against Moscow’s intelligence services.
“We monitored his every step, every contact, every conversation and message around the clock. He literally lived under our surveillance,” Maliuk said, revealing how the agency simultaneously tracked the traitor while using him to feed carefully crafted disinformation to Russia.
The operation exposed not just the high-ranking turncoat but an entire Russian intelligence network. The suspect, who held a leadership position in the SBU’s Anti-Terrorist Center, had been recruited by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in Vienna in 2018, according to investigators.
After a period of “hibernation,” the FSB reactivated their agent in December 2024. However, by then, he was already under close surveillance by Ukrainian counterintelligence, which used his position to channel misleading intelligence to Moscow, the SBU revealed.
“The FSB tasked network members with gathering and transmitting defense-related information, particularly focusing on data about Ukraine’s awareness of enemy force locations and movements at the front,” the SBU reported. The Russians sought classified information about Ukrainian security forces’ armaments, critical infrastructure status, and missile strike impacts.
The investigation revealed a broader conspiracy, including the suspect’s parents, who allegedly justified Russian aggression and praised Putin. They now face charges under Article 436-2 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code for supporting Russian aggression.
Ukrainian counterintelligence identified the FSB handler as Yuriy Shatalov and uncovered a safe house in Kyiv used for communications. The suspect had received specialized equipment, including a mobile phone, WiFi router, and SIM card, for transmitting classified information to Russia – all of which were monitored by the SBU.
The SBU also identified the FSB supervisor, Yuriy Shatalov, who coordinated the activities of the agent network.
The accused official faces life imprisonment with property confiscation under Article 111 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code for state treason. The case is under the supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Journalist Yuriy Butusov informed, citing his sources, that the detainee is Dmytro Koziura, an SBU staff member who has held positions that provide access to top-secret information for more than 20 years and had a wide range of contacts in the SBU.
“According to sources, Koziura worked for a long time in the personnel department of the SBU Academy in the early 2000s, got to know and had full access to the personal files of all cadets, meaning that almost all SBU officers could have been under the control of Russian agents.
Koziura was appointed Chief of Staff of the SBU anti-terrorist center in 2016. Service in the central office gave Koziura the opportunity to collect information not only about his area of work but also about other departments,” Butusov wrote.
This dual success – arresting a traitor while exploiting his position – represents a broader pattern of effective counterintelligence work by the SBU, which has exposed 11 Russian spy networks since the beginning of 2024, according to earlier statements by Maliuk.
