Ukrainian govt interpreter arrested as Russian spy

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A top Ukrainian official, identified by media as an interpreter for Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, has been detained on suspicion of being a Russian spy, government sources said Thursday.

"Together with the Security Service of Ukraine, an official in the government's secretariat was found to be working for a long time in the interests of the enemy state. He was detained," Groysman said on Facebook.

Neither he nor the state security service SBU named the position or name of the detained official, but lawmakers and local media said the suspect was Stanislav Yezhov, a deputy head of the government's protocol service who had also worked as an interpreter for Groysman.

Yezhov could not immediately be reached for comment.

The SBU said in a statement that the official was recruited by Russian agents while traveling abroad. It said the official had been collecting information about the activities of the government.

Ukraine's former Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman speaks during a session of the parliament in Kiev, November 27, 2014. /VCG Photo

"This official had access to rather specific insider governmental information, he was well-respected, and at the same time worked responsibly, accurately and creatively for the Russian intelligence services," the head of counter-intelligence at Ukraine’s security service, General Olexiy Petrov, said.

Ukraine and Russia were once allies whose intelligence agencies often worked closely together, but relations deteriorated after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

An aide to the Ukraine interior minister, Anton Gerashchenko, said Yezhov was recruited when he was working at Ukraine's embassy in Washington and acted in Russia's interests for at least two years.

Another adviser to the interior minister, Stanislav Rechinsky, called him "one of the best simultaneous interpreters in Ukraine." He apparently sat in on meetings with foreign leaders, including former US Vice President Joe Biden.

The SBU said he was detained at his workplace. Yezhov is one of the more high-profile Ukrainian officials accused for working for Russia following the pro-European revolt in Ukraine which toppled the former pro-Moscow leader Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. ‍

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters