Ukraine detains Russian military attaché for spying

The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday the diplomat had been detained a day earlier and declared persona non grata.Ukraine’s security service said he was a Russian intelligence officer who had been collecting intelligence on “Ukrainian-NATO military and political cooperation”.“On April 30, he was caught red-handed receiving classified material from his source,” said Maryna Ostapenko, a […]

The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday the diplomat had been detained a day earlier and declared persona non grata.
Ukraine’s security service said he was a Russian intelligence officer who had been collecting intelligence on “Ukrainian-NATO military and political cooperation”.
“On April 30, he was caught red-handed receiving classified material from his source,” said Maryna Ostapenko, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s security service, the SBU. She described the source as a colonel in the Ukrainian armed forces.
Ukraine says Russia stands behind the fall of towns and cities over the past month in the country’s industrial east to pro-Russian separatists, often involving well-organized masked gunmen in military fatigues.
Russia denies having any part in the rebellion, but has warned it reserves the right to intervene to protect ethnic Russians – following its annexation of Crimea in late March – and has massed tens of thousands of troops on its western frontier with Ukraine.
Ostapenko said the attaché had been handed over to the Russian embassy and ordered to leave, though she was not sure if he had yet done so.
There was no immediate response from Moscow, which like Kiev was observing the May 1 holiday.