Ukraine’s internal intelligence service has shot dead a negotiator during an arrest. The accusation: high treason. But another secret service is now publishing conflicting information.
A lot is still unclear: a member of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation was shot dead by the Ukrainian domestic secret service while attempting to arrest him. This is reported by the Ukrainian news portal “Ukrainiska Pravda”, citing government circles. Accordingly, Denis Kireev was suspected of high treason. However, another Ukrainian intelligence agency, the GUR military intelligence agency, shortly afterwards released a message claiming that the killed Kireev was working for him.
Kireev was also part of the negotiating delegation that met with representatives of the Russian side in Gomel, Belarus, on Monday. He can be seen at the back of the table in one of the official pictures.
The version of the domestic intelligence service reported by “Ukrainiska Pravda” is as follows: There are strong indications that Kireev leaked information to Russia, the paper reported, referring to government circles. The SBU secret service is said to have intercepted the former banker’s telephone conversations.
Military intelligence releases completely different version
However, the military secret service GUR published a post on Facebook claiming otherwise. Accordingly, Kireev worked as a scout for the GUR. He died while defending Ukraine, it said. His actions would have brought Ukraine closer to victory. The reports are currently not verifiable.
The second round of negotiations took place on Thursday. A breakthrough has not yet been achieved. The third round should not follow until next Monday. The head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamiya, wrote this on Facebook on Saturday evening. He did not give details. Later, Russian foreign policy expert Leonid Slutsky said on state television: “The third round can really take place in the next few days. It’s possible on Monday 7th (March).” Initially, further talks were expected this weekend.