Ukraine's security services have arrested an official from a key anti-corruption unit on charges of spying for Russia.
Although Ukraine and Russia have arrested dozens of suspected spies during the war that Russia launched against Ukraine in 2022, cases of espionage within government agencies are rare.
"An employee of the central office of NABU [the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine] has been detained," the security service, SBU, said.
"He worked in the most elite unit, D-2, and spied for the Russian special services," the statement said, without publishing the name of the arrested official.
Earlier, the SBU conducted raids on the offices of NABU and the office of specialized anti-corruption prosecutors.
NABU announced that it is conducting an “internal review” and is “investigating the legal basis for the actions taken, including the use of force against an employee.”
The bureau added that it had previously conducted an investigation jointly with the SBU, which had found "no evidence" to support the charges against him.
"There is no evidence that the official in question was involved in anti-state activities," NABU stated.
The SBU, meanwhile, has alleged that the suspect sent classified information to a deputy security chief of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted from power in 2014 and now lives in Russia.
A video released by the SBU shows armed men in camouflage uniforms forcibly removing the suspect from a car, pushing him to the ground and handcuffing him.
If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
NABU was created after the pro-European revolution of 2014, as part of reforms aimed at bringing Kiev closer to Europe, at a time when the country was facing Moscow-backed separatists in the east. (A2 Televizion)
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