Skip to content
Edit post

RFE/RL: 5 intelligence agents involved with Wagnergate had their passports revoked

by Max Hunder November 25, 2021 3:32 AM 1 min read
(RFE/RL)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Ukraine revoked the international passports of five former intelligence operatives who were involved in the botched July 2020 operation to capture Russian Wagner Group mercenaries, RFE/RL reported on Nov. 25.

According to a recent Bellingcat investigation, Ukrainian intelligence lured 33 mercenaries to Belarus and planned to intercept them en route from Minsk to Istanbul. However, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, reportedly delayed the operation, which caused it to fail. Yermak’s adviser Mykhailo Podoliak denied the allegations.

The five intelligence operatives, including Main Intelligence Directorate head Vasyl Burba, were fired a week later. One of the agents, Yurii Semeniuk, told RFE/RL that Ukrainian border guards seized and annulled his passport when he tried to go on vacation to Egypt in May 2021.

The Border Guard Service claimed to be acting on the Migration Service’s instructions, which the Migration Service denied issuing. Semeniuk told RFE/RL he believes the passport revocation could be pressure from Zelensky’s administration.

Zelensky’s presidential administration has been changing its narrative about the operation. Previously, Yermak and Zelensky denied that Ukraine’s intelligence was behind it.

News Feed

10:46 AM

US halts Ukraine-bound weapons already staged in Poland, WSJ reports.

The shipment includes over two dozen PAC-3 Patriot missiles, more than two dozen Stinger air-defense systems, Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, and over 90 AIM air-to-air missiles intended for use with Ukraine's F-16 fighter jets, according to U.S. administration and congressional officials cited by the Wall Street Journal.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.