Tanya Polyakovskaya15:31, 05/18/24

It was Bortnikov who developed the plan to suppress protests in Kyiv in 2013-2014 in order to preserve the then ruling regime in Ukraine.

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) reported the suspicion  to the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bortnikov, and 20 other “FSB” generals.

The SBI noted that Bortnikov is suspected of organizing high treason by the former leadership of the SBU, inciting national enmity and hatred in Ukraine and illegally obstructing protests in 2013-2014.

“Suspicions were also reported to 20 high-ranking intelligence officials. Among them is the director of the Russian Guard, Viktor Zolotov,” the department said. They added that SBI investigators collected evidence of the subversive activities of the Russian intelligence service and personally the head of the FSB of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. “It was established that Bortnikov developed a criminal plan to suppress the protests of Ukrainians in 2013-2014 in order to preserve the ruling regime in Ukraine at that time. The ultimate goal was the further annexation of part of Ukraine under the pretext of “civil confrontation”,” the report says.VIDEO OF THE DAY

One of the key tasks of the Russian FSB was to prevent Ukraine from joining the European Union and NATO, since this threatened the Kremlin’s plans to absorb the former Soviet republics.

“The refusal of the top leadership of Ukraine from European integration was planned by the Russian Federation, therefore measures were taken in advance to prevent protests and scenarios for their forceful dispersal were developed. For this, in October 2013, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev came to Ukraine with instructions to the leadership of the National Security and Defense Council on dispersing potential protests with maximum cruelty and the use of force to intimidate other activists,” the Bureau noted.

To stop the protests, Bortnikov gave the task to the then chairman of the SBU, who had Russian citizenship, to assist FSB employees in their subversive activities. In pursuance of this instruction, the first deputy chairman of the SBU – head of the Anti-Terrorism Center, in November-December 2013, put subordinate special forces on high alert. “The level of terrorist threat was determined as “potential,” which equated the protesters to potential terrorists,” the SBI noted.

“In December 2013, the commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on the instructions of the deputy commander of the internal troops of the Russians, began preparations for the forceful dispersal and execution of activists, for which on December 12 he sent a letter to the Minister of Defense about the free transfer of 4 million cartridges and 100 thousand VOG grenade launcher rounds to the internal troops -25, other military property,” the message says.

In addition, on the instructions of the director of the FSB of the Russian Federation and at the invitation of the former head of the SBU, a group of 20 FSB officers arrived in Kyiv on December 13, who instructed Ukrainian law enforcement officers in countering Euromaidan.

“On the instructions of employees of the FSB of the Russian Federation, Ukrainian law enforcement officers collected video recordings that provoked conflicts between the participants of the Maidan and its opponents. The materials were published on the Internet on a specially created YouTube channel and sent reports on the work done to the FSB,” the SBI noted.

The former head of the SBU and the head of the Department for the Protection of National Statehood went over to the side of the enemy in 2022, and therefore the SBU prosecuted them for high treason under martial law. They also occupied leading “positions” in illegally created security agencies in the territories of Kherson and Zaporozhye regions partially occupied by Russia; their actions were additionally qualified by the SBI under Part 7 of Art. 111-1 of the Criminal Code.

Thus, SBI investigators informed Bortnikov of suspicion of organizing the commission of treason by the former leadership of the SBU, inciting national enmity and hatred in Ukraine, illegally obstructing protest rallies in 2013-2014 (Part 3 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 28, Part. 1 Art. 111, Part 2 Art. 28, Part 2 Art. 161, Part 2 Art. 340 of the Criminal Code).

Also, 20 employees of the FSB of the Russian Federation were informed of a change in the previously reported suspicion of complicity in these actions and were informed of a new suspicion of illegally obstructing protest actions (Part 5 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 111, Part. 2 Article 28, Part 2 Article 161, Part 2 Article 28, Article 340 of the Criminal Code).

Among them are the generals: the head of the 2nd Service (protection of the constitutional order and the fight against terrorism) of the FSB of the Russian Federation A.S. Sedov, his deputy Zhalo A.P., the first deputy head of the department of this Service S.M. Egorov, the first deputy head of the Department of Operational Information Pavlik V.M., Deputy Head of the Department of the FSB of the Russian Federation in Moscow Yatsenko A.A. (former officer of the 2nd Service), as well as the director of the federal service of the National Guard of the Russian Federation, V.V. Zolotov. (former career officer of the KGB of the USSR and freelance employee of the FSB of the Russian Federation).

Also, the former chairman of the SBU, the head of the Department for the Protection of National Statehood of the SBU was informed of a change in the previously reported suspicion of high treason by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, incitement of national, religious enmity and hatred, and was informed of a new suspicion of illegal obstruction of protest actions, voluntary occupation of positions in bodies security of the aggressor state in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine (part 2 of article 28, part 1 of article 111, part 2 of article 28, article 161, part 2 of article 28, part 2 of article 340, part 7 of article 111-1 of the Criminal Code).

In addition, the First Deputy Chairman of the SBU – the head of the Anti-Terrorism Center was informed of a change in the previously reported suspicion of treason by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, incitement of national, religious enmity and hatred, and was informed of a new suspicion of illegal obstruction of protest actions (Part 2 of Article 28 , part 1 of article 111, part 2 of article 28, article 161, part 2 of article 28, article 340).

“The message of suspicion and summons to summon the suspects was sent to the official email of the FSB of the Russian Federation and will be published on the website of the Office of the Prosecutor General,” the message says.

Russian propaganda in Ukraine

The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, Andrei Kovalenko, said that the second wave of Russian disinformation regarding the “illegitimacy” of the authorities continues in Ukraine. According to him, this wave will continue throughout the summer. A bunch of TikTok pages and Telegram channels are appearing, calling for people to go to rallies on the 20th of May. At the same time, the organizers and creators of these pages are located outside of Ukraine.

(C)UNIAN 2024