(JustPatriots.com)- A Washington Post analysis found that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) convinced Ukrainian authorities that Putin wouldn’t invade.
According to a Washington Post review of sensitive information from Ukrainian and foreign intelligence agencies, Russia’s FSB penetrated all levels of the Ukrainian government to topple President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and install a pro-Kremlin leader in his place. The FSB misled Ukrainian leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin, resulting in an unexpected invasion.
A top Ukrainian security officer told the Post they didn’t expect an assault with tanks, artillery, and troops.
The FSB, which oversees espionage in the former USSR, believed an assault on the nation’s capital would be enough to topple the government and create an opening for installing pro-Russian leadership from among the many Ukrainian officials co-opted by the Russians over years of covert operations in Kyiv, the Post reported.
According to a senior Ukrainian source, the FSB “expected someone to open the gate.” “No resistance was expected.”
The FSB’s Ukraine division grew from 30 to 160 officers before the invasion, recruiting Ukrainian security service members to damage the country’s defenses.
According to the Post, the CIA tried to convince Ukraine’s government that Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s border was evidence Putin would invade. The Ukrainian intelligence chief said their information said the Russians aren’t planning conflict.
Days later, the UK stated it had reliable intelligence. Russia planned to replace Zelenskyy with a pro-Kremlin adherent, identifying five individuals with proven ties to Russian intelligence.
Despite internal polling showing anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine, the FSB fed misleading and false intelligence to the Kremlin, the Post claimed.
Senior FSB officers in Ukraine ordered colleagues to leave, stating, “When you return, it will be different.”
Russia’s northern war effort and siege of Kyiv were defeated. Russia regrouped its soldiers in the east, where a terrible attrition struggle has raged since June.
Russia’s penetration into Ukraine’s government and security remains uncertain. A Ukrainian NGO claimed to have identified FSB war operations in February.
In July, Zelenskyy fired Ivan Bakanov, a childhood buddy, and suspended many top security personnel for treason.
The Russian government, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and Security Service, and the CIA did not immediately comment.
