Sivkovych, former member of fugitive President Viltor Yanukovych's Party of Regions, was identified by the British government in January 2022 as one of four former Ukrainian politicians working with Russian intelligence services, and was sanctioned by the US for engaging in Russian government-directed influence activities to destabilize Ukraine.
According to the newspaper, Volodymyr Sivkovych, a former deputy chief of Ukraine's National Security Council who fled to Russia after being accused of ordering the killing of pro-European protesters in 2014, runs the network. Ukrainian authorities say he now works for the FSB and orchestrated a network of Russian agents in Ukraine, Britain, and the US.
The key operative in this network, The Sunday Times says, was Oleh Kulinich, who rose to become head of the SBU's Crimea department.
"Kulinich was the most valued Russian FSB agent in Ukraine," a senior Ukrainian counterintelligence official told the newspaper, comparing his impact to that of Kim Philby's infiltration of MI6, uncovered in the 1960s.
US lawyer's role
The operation reportedly began taking shape in April 2018 when Marcus Cohen, an American lawyer, met with Sivkovych in Vienna. Cohen was initially contracted to gather information about corruption investigations, but the relationship evolved. According to messages seen by The Sunday Times, Cohen was aware he was dealing with intelligence operatives, noting in one message that he was sitting with a "'former' KGB General and an SBU Commander."Campaign infiltration
The Sunday Times reports that Cohen facilitated Kulinich's introduction to Zelenskyy's 2019 presidential campaign team as a pro bono political expert. Documents reviewed by the newspaper show that Sivkovych in Moscow funded campaign contractors through shell companies, including a $185,250 contract with a newly-formed London firm, Global Analytica, for security services. After Zelenskyy's election victory, Kulinich was appointed to head the SBU's Crimea department in 2020. Prosecutors say he used this position to undermine Ukraine's defenses, with an SBU officer telling the newspaper that "Kulinich managed to destabilize the work of this SBU directorate" and used anti-terrorism training to identify defensive weaknesses.Arrest and aftermath
According to The Sunday Times, Kulinich was arrested on 16 July 2022, accused of passing state secrets to Russia. The newspaper reports that evidence found on a Moscow computer and in a Kyiv apartment included photos of Kulinich with Sivkovych family members abroad and messages between the two.
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