Ukraine's spy chief details fate of Russian collaborators

The head of Ukraine's national spy agency has revealed details of a secretive assassination campaign apparently targeting Ukrainians collaborating with Russia.

- TOM WATLING

In an hour-long televised interview Lieutenant General Vasyl Malyuk, chief of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), spoke about a number of high-profile killings in Russian-occupied territory and Russia itself, including that of a pro-Kremlin military blogger in Vladimir Putin's hometown of St Petersburg.

Lt Gen Malyuk claimed "very many" people responsible for war crimes and attacks against Ukrainian citizens had been targeted. But he said: "Officially, we will not admit to this... But at the same time, I can offer some details."

The most high-profile killing he spoke about was that of Ukraine-born Vladlen Tatarsky, a Kremlin propagandist and media personality who had more than half a million followers on the Telegram messenger service.

Tatarsky joined with pro-Kremlin forces invading eastern Ukraine in 2014 after being jailed for robbing a bank.

He was known to have ties with the Wagner mercenary group, a Russian militia that captured the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut last May before staging a mutinous march on Moscow the following month. Lt Gen Malyuk said Tatarsky was targeted for his military service fighting against Ukraine and his calls for the elimination of Ukrainians.

He was killed when he was handed an explosive-rigged statuette in a St Petersburg cafe in April last year. The spy boss claimed operatives had duped an intermediary, a young woman, into handing the statue to Tatarsky. A woman, Darya Trepova, has since been jailed for 27 years over the killing. Trepova told her trial she was following instructions from a man in Ukraine. She told the court she had been gullible and naive to believe him.