SBU exposes 12 accomplices of Medvedchuk conducting information sabotage for Russia

The State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has collected a large-scale evidence base on the "information saboteurs" of the Russian Federal Security Bureau (FSB), who, under the leadership of former Member of Parliament Viktor Medvedchuk, are engaged in media attacks in Ukraine, the SBU reports.

"These are 12 members of an organized criminal group called "Second Ukraine," which operates in Moscow under the guise of a public association," the SBU said on Telegram on Thursday.

According to the report, the SBU has collected evidence on these individuals from various sources, including the testimony of a "political expert" from Medvedchuk's media pool, Kyrylo Molchanov, who was detained in Poland this spring and is currently under arrest in Kyiv and cooperating with the investigation.

As the investigation established, Molchanov worked simultaneously for two special services of the aggressor country: the FSB and the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.

"As part of the criminal proceedings, it was established that one of his "direct contacts" was the first deputy of the fifth service of the FSB of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Georgy Grishaev. The corresponding correspondence was found in the suspect's phone," the department emphasizes.

The SBU notes that, at the instructions of the occupiers, Molchanov and his "colleagues" were engaged in justifying Russian aggression, discrediting Ukraine in the international arena, and destabilizing the internal situation in the partner countries of our state.

"Moreover, Molchanov himself organized street actions in the EU in the interests of the Kremlin, where he called for the curtailment of international support for Ukraine," the SBU specifies.

According to the case materials, Viktor Medvedchuk personally led these activities. "In particular, he agreed on the creation of the organization "Second Ukraine" directly with Putin, after which the Kremlin leader instructed the FSB to coordinate this project. Then, Medvedchuk personally formed the "staff" of the pro-Kremlin association, which included top management and propagandists of the former People's Deputy's sanctioned TV channels. Most of them left for the Russian Federation at the beginning of the full-scale war," the report states.

On Medvedchuk's instructions, they prepared and distributed anti-Ukrainian content through controlled Telegram channels, YouTube video hosting, and the Kremlin's foreign mouthpiece "Voice of Europe," which, thanks to the cooperation of the SBU and Czech law enforcement agencies, was sanctioned by the EU in 2024.

After the release of such messages, they were instantly picked up by Kremlin propagandists for mass distribution on their information resources.

It was also established that Medvedchuk personally finances the criminal organization and for this purpose closely cooperates with the administration and government structures of the Russian Federation.

Based on the collected evidence, investigators of the Security Service reported in absentia on suspicion of Medvedchuk and his "subordinates" who are hiding in Russia. Among them: Denis Zharkykh, ⁠Artem Marchevsky, Roman Kovalenko, Ruslan Kalinchuk, Yakiv Taksyur, Yuriy Dudkin, Ruslan Kotsaba, Natalia Khoroshevska, Bohdan Giganov, Oleg Yasinsky and Oleksandr Lazarev.

The crimes of the defendants were qualified under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 3 of Article 109 (public calls for a violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or for the seizure of state power, as well as the distribution of materials with calls for such actions, committed as part of an organized criminal group); Part 2 of Article 111 (high treason committed under martial law); Part 6 of Article 111-1 (collaborative activity); Part 3 of Article 161 (violation of the equality of citizens depending on their racial, national, regional affiliation, religious beliefs, disability and on other grounds, committed as part of an organized criminal group); Part 3 of Article 436-2 (justification, recognition as lawful, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants, committed as part of an organized criminal group).

"The detained Medvedchuk associate Kyrylo Molchanov was separately notified of additional suspicion on the fact of working for enemy special services (Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, high treason committed under wartime conditions)," the SBU said.