A former senior officer of Ukraine’s intelligence agency has been sentenced to life imprisonment for collaborating with Russia’s FSB security service.
Colonel Dmytro Kozyura was convicted of high treason under martial law, according to Ukraine’s prosecutor general.
Kozyura, who previously served as the chief of staff at the Security Service of Ukraine’s (SBU) anti-terrorism center, was implicated in an operation codenamed “rat.”
The investigation revealed that he utilized a safehouse in Kyiv to communicate with Russian operatives seeking classified information regarding Ukraine’s military and leadership.
The prosecutor general stated that Kozyura had consented to divulge information deemed state secrets in exchange for financial gain, warranting the most severe penalty.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, Kyiv has conducted numerous operations aimed at identifying Russian agents within its borders.
Following his arrest in February 2025, the SBU released a photograph of Kozyura alongside Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Vasyl Malyuk, who oversaw the investigation.
The agency disclosed that he had been recruited by the FSB in Vienna back in 2018, but it wasn’t until December 2024 that communication was reestablished.
The SBU reported that Kozyura was tasked with collecting and sharing intelligence on the deployment and movement of Russian forces, as well as details about Ukraine’s military capabilities, infrastructure, and political leadership.
His espionage activities included monitoring SBU command posts and systematically relaying the impacts of Russian attacks, including casualty figures among soldiers and civilians.
He maintained “constant communication” with his handlers, sharing documents classified as “secret.”
The prosecutor general emphasized that Kozyura, a career officer in the SBU, had access to sensitive state information and was responsible for coordinating anti-terrorism efforts.
”Anyone who dons Ukrainian insignia and collaborates with the FSB becomes an adversary of Ukraine,” stated Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.
”Such individuals deserve the harshest consequences.”
Kozyura was apprehended last year after SBU officials meticulously monitored his activities and discovered that he had been in contact with a Russian operative from a safehouse using a separate mobile device and Wi-Fi connection.
His FSB handler was identified as Yuriy Shatalov, who coordinated a network of agents.
The SBU asserted that prior to Kozyura’s eventual capture, they had exploited him to inundate Russian forces with disinformation while preventing him from accessing critical intelligence.
He was ultimately found guilty of high treason under martial law and illegal possession of weapons, ammunition, or explosives by the Shevchenkivskyy District Court in Kyiv.
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong