Traitors in their own ranks
Kyiv warns of Russian sleeper cells
November 28, 2023, 12:22 a.m
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Ukrainian President Zelensky warns of Russia’s plans for a coup. The Secretary of the National Security Council becomes more specific. Accordingly, Moscow has already activated its sleeper cells. Because of the lack of success on the battlefield, destabilizing Ukraine is now a priority, he says.
The government in Kiev believes that Russia has activated its network of sleeper cells in Ukraine in the past two months to further destabilize the country. This is what the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, said in an interview with the British “Times”. “They know they can’t win militarily, so attempts at internal destabilization are now a priority,” Danilov says of Moscow’s intentions.
Russian agents would seek to exploit alleged tensions between President Volodomyr Zelensky and Commander-in-Chief Valery Zalushny by spreading misrepresentations to drive a wedge between the political and military leadership.
Another attempt is to stir up anti-government sentiment among the population. The agents targeted family members of Ukrainian soldiers who are fighting at the front or who are in Russian captivity, says Danilov. The activation of the sleeper cells is a reaction to Russia’s limited success on the battlefield. Putin absolutely wants to achieve tangible success before the presidential elections in March.
“We made a big mistake in 1991”
According to Danilov, many of the Russian secret agents work undercover in the Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU. “We made a big mistake in 1991 when we did not disband the KGB, but only changed its name to SBU.” Later, when pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was in power, the secret service was heavily infiltrated by FSB agents. “Unfortunately, we have to admit that we have not succeeded in purging all security apparatuses. That’s why, of course, there are traitors there,” said Danilov.
President Zelensky warned two weeks ago that Russia was planning a coup in Ukraine. A disinformation plan is being hatched in Moscow. The aim is to divide Ukrainian society and cause chaos in order to ultimately bring about the overthrow of the government. The plan’s name, “Maidan 3,” refers to the protests in Kiev in 2004 and 2013-2014 that led to the overthrow of then-President Yanukovych.