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| Photo Credit: China Daily - Ukraine Parliment 2012 |
The US Treasury notice sanctioning four Ukrainians for “activities to destabilize Ukraine” is a compelling window on Moscow’s campaign of subversion that complements its campaign of military aggression. Each of the Ukrainians is accused of aiding Russia against Ukraine through activities that undermine Ukraine’s government and civil society. You read that right. Ukrainians against Ukraine.
Take Taras KOZAK(age 49) from Lviv in western Ukraine. He is a current member of the Ukrainian Parliament with the Opposition Platform – For Life party led by Victor Medvedchuk, who is himself sanctioned by the U.S. for undermining Ukrainian sovereignty in 2014 ( Medvedchuk, a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is currently under house arrest in Ukraine for treason). US Treasury writes,
“Kozak, who controls several news channels in Ukraine, supported the [Russian] FSB’s plan to denigrate senior members of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s inner circle, falsely accusing them of mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, Kozak used his news platforms to amplify false narratives around the 2020 U.S. elections first espoused by U.S.-designated Andrii Leonidovych Derkach (Derkach). Kozak has attempted to legitimatize Derkach’s claims by rebroadcasting Derkach’s false assertions about U.S. political candidates. Throughout 2020, Kozak worked alongside FSB intelligence agents.”
Or, take Oleh VOLOSHYN (age 40) from Kyiv. Like Kozak, Voloshyn is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and a member of the political party led by Medvedchuk. US Treasury writes,
“Voloshyn has worked with Russian actors to undermine Ukrainian government officials and advocate on behalf of Russia. Voloshyn also worked with U.S.-designated Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian national with ties to Russian intelligence who was sanctioned for attempts to influence the U.S. 2020 presidential election, to coordinate passing on information to influence U.S. elections at the behest of Russia.”
US Treasury writes that “Russia has directed its intelligence services to recruit current and former Ukrainian government officials to prepare to take over the government [underline added] of Ukraine and to control Ukraine’s critical infrastructure with an occupying Russian force. At the heart of this effort are Taras Kozak (Kozak) and Oleh Voloshyn (Voloshyn)”
Then there is Volodymyr OLIYNYK (a.k.a., Oleinik or Oliinyk) (age 64) from Yalta, Crimea, which has been annexed by Russia, who fled to Moscow for vote-rigging in 2014. US Treasury writes that,
“Oliynyk has a history of supporting Russia, currently resides in Moscow, Russia, and shares Russia’s anti-Western sentiments. In 2021, Oliynyk worked at the direction of the [Russian] FSB to gather information about Ukrainian critical infrastructure.
…
“As in previous Russian incursions into Ukraine, repeated cyber operations against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure are part of Russia’s hybrid tactics to threaten Ukraine. The overall strategy is designed to pull Ukraine into Russia’s orbit by thwarting Ukraine’s efforts at Western integration, especially with the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). As Russia has pursued broad cyber operations against critical infrastructure, it has focused on disrupting one critical infrastructure sector in particular: Ukraine’s energy sector [underline added]. Russia has also degraded Ukraine’s access to energy products in the middle of winter. Acting through Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom, Russia has repeatedly disrupted supplies to Ukraine—a vital transshipment country with pipelines to other European countries—due to purported disputes over gas pricing.”
Or, lastly, Vladimir SIVKOVICH (a.k.a. Sivkovych) (age 61) from the Kyiv region. The US Treasury writes,
”Vladimir Sivkovich (Sivkovich) is the former Deputy Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council. In 2021, Sivkovich worked with a network of Russian intelligence actors to carry out influence operations that attempted to build support for Ukraine to officially cede Crimea to Russia [underline added] in exchange for a drawdown of Russian-backed forces in the Donbas, where separatists continue to receive support from Russia. In early 2020, Sivkovich coordinated with Russian intelligence services to promote Derkach’s disinformation campaign against the U.S. 2020 presidential election. Sivkovich, who has ties to the FSB, also supported an influence operation targeting the United States from 2019 to 2020.”
As the US Treasury explains,
“…The four individuals have played various roles in Russia’s global influence campaign to destabilize sovereign countries in support of the Kremlin’s political objectives [underline added].”
…
“Russian intelligence services, including the FSB, recruit Ukrainian citizens in key positions to gain access to sensitive information, threaten the sovereignty of Ukraine, and then leverage these Ukrainian officials to create instability in advance of a potential Russian invasion [underline added].”
"In 2020, Kremlin officials launched a comprehensive information operation plan designed in part to degrade the ability of the Ukrainian state to function independently [underline added]…This included identifying and co-opting pro-Russian individuals in Ukraine and undermining prominent Ukrainians viewed as pro-Western, who would stand in the way of Russian efforts to bring Ukraine within its control [underline added]. Goals of the plan included destabilizing the political situation in Ukraine and laying the groundwork for creating a new, Russian-controlled government in Ukraine."
Russia systematically suborns Ukrainians, especially those in government or the military, who are susceptible through bribery or coercion to act against Ukraine. Outside observers of events in Ukraine can be confused by–if not outright hostile to–Ukraine because these Ukrainian persons appear to be evidence that Ukrainian society does not support its government or an independent, democratic Ukraine. Indeed, they are led to believe that part of Ukrainian society dreams of rejoining Russia. For an outside observer, the Ukrainians who are loyal to Moscow–although few–create confusion about how deep, or shallow, Ukrainian society’s sense of identity is. And that confusion helps fuel Russian disinformation that casts doubt how cohesive the Ukrainian state and society are.
The corrupt Ukrainians who fled Kyiv for Moscow when former President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted are well-known. But it is inexplicable how pro-Moscow individuals can be members of Ukraine’s parliament today and act against Ukraine’s national interest--they are not just sympathetic, they act on behalf of Moscow against Ukraine. In another country, they would be prosecuted as traitors. A particular threat is Victor Medvedchuk, who not only leads a pro-Moscow political party but has direct access to Putin and to other individuals at the highest level in the Kremlin and whose personal interests are more aligned with Moscow than with Kyiv.
Although fueled by a Russian campaign of subversion and corruption, it is alarming that Russia finds Ukrainians willing to trade their country for Moscow’s favors.
For more on the four sanctioned individuals, read Irene Kenyon, former Treasury intelligence officer and Director of Risk Intelligence for FiveBy Solutions.
For an excellent analysis how Russia might use suborned Ukrainian politicians or government functionaries to undermine Ukraine's legitimate government, see Euromaidan Press article,
