A senior member of Ukraine's spy agency has been detained on suspicion of being a Russian agent.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the accused man was a senior official of the Anti-Terrorist Center.
Photos posted on social media showed the suspect being taken into custody on Wednesday morning, local time, by SBU head Vasyl Malyuk.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was informed of the operation, codenamed "rat".
The SBU said the man had been working in his current role since 2016. The BBC said local Ukrainian media had identified him as Colonel Dmytro Kozyura.
"It turned out that the chief of staff of the SBU's Anti-Terrorism Center was working for the enemy," the SBU said in a statement posted on Telegram, describing an "extremely complex" operation including audio and video monitoring, as well as gaining access to mobile phones and computers.
Lieutenant General Malyuk said the suspect sent information to his handlers in Moscow at least 14 times.
Ukraine claims to have conducted numerous operations and detained hundreds of people for allegedly colluding with Russia since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
ABC/AFP
ABC