Not too long ago Ukraine cleaned up its security apparatus – the Attorney General and the head of the secret service were replaced.
The background was suspicions of high treason and collaboration with Russia expressed by the Ukrainian government in the authorities of the two. The Reuters news agency has now used court documents and witness statements to research how Russian agents are said to have infiltrated the Ukrainian administrative apparatus before the start of the war.
The quick capture of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is cited as an example. According to the report, for example, the security chief of the plant is being investigated for high treason. Reuters quoted from a statement he made to investigators.
Accordingly, on the day of the invasion, he spoke to the commander of the Ukrainian troops and advised him not to endanger his unit and to withdraw. The security chief’s lawyer considers the allegations to be unfounded under these circumstances.
Because of the reports of these collaborators, the war planners around Russian President Vladimir Putin are said to have assumed that Ukraine was weak and could be conquered within a few days. The problem: The Kremlin relied on people who thought their influence before the invasion was much higher than it actually was.
In the end, they only had a little knowledge, but they told the Kremlin exactly what the leadership there wanted to hear – because otherwise they would not have been paid further.
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