Senior Ukrainian intelligence official jailed for life for spying for Russia

Senior Ukrainian intelligence official jailed for life for spying for RussiaImage source, Security Service of UkraineImage caption, Ukraine's intelligence boss Vasyl Malyuk (R) was pictured alongside Col Kozyura after his arrest in February 2025ByMaia DaviesPublished3 minutes agoA former high-ranking Ukrainian intelligence official has been sentenced to life in prison for spying for Russia's FSB security service.Col Dmytro Kozyura was found guilty of high treason under martial law, Ukraine's prosecutor general said. He was previously chief of staff of the Security Service of Ukraine's (SBU) anti-terrorism centre.An operation codenamed "rat" found he had used a safehouse in Kyiv to communicate with Russian handlers seeking classified information about Ukraine's military and leadership, the SBU said.The prosecutor general said Kozyura had agreed to share information "constituting state secrets" for financial reward and deserved the harshest punishment.Kyiv has announced numerous operations to expose Russian agents on its soil since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.After his arrest in February 2025, the SBU released an image of the former official with Ukraine's intelligence chief Vasyl Malyuk, who led the investigation.In a statement after his sentencing, the agency said he had been recruited by Russia's FSB in Vienna in 2018, but several years had passed before his handlers resumed contact with him in December 2024.The SBU said he was subsequently asked to gather and share what Ukraine knew about the deployment and movement of Russia's armed forces, and information about Ukraine's weapons, infrastructure and its political and military leadership.His activities included spying on SBU command posts and "systematically" sharing the consequences of Russian strikes, including the number of wounded soldiers and civilians, a statement from the office of Prosecutor General Rusl...