MOSCOW, KOMPAS.com – Federation Security Service Russia (FSB) arrested one diplomat Ukraine for being accused of receiving sensitive information from a Russian citizen.
Diplomat named Alexander Sosonyuk and served at Consul General Ukraina of Saint Petersburg.
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The arrest was announced by the FSB on Saturday (17/4/2021) as reported AFP.
In recent years Russia has indeed frequently detained a number of Ukrainians on suspicion of carrying out activities spy.
However, the detention of a diplomat was rare and was seen as a sign of escalating tensions.
“A Ukrainian diplomat from the Consul General of Ukraine in Saint Petersburg, Alexander Sosonyuk, has been detained by the Russian FSB,” the FSB said.
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The agency added that Sosonyuk had been arrested and detained on Friday (16/4/2021).
Ukraine confirmed that the diplomat had spent several hours in custody and is now returning to Ukraine’s diplomatic mission.
Body intelligence Inside Russia said Sosonyuk was caught meeting a Russian national as he was trying to receive “classified” information.
“Such activities are incompatible with its diplomatic status and are clearly hostile to the Russian Federation,” the FSB added.
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“In accordance with international law, action will be taken against these foreign diplomats,” continued the FSB.
In the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oleg Nikolenko called the incident a mounting tension between the two countries.
“This is another provocation amidst unstable Russian activity,” Nikolenko told AFP.
He said Kiev was investigating the incident and would respond in the near future.
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In recent weeks, tensions have intensified between Russia and Ukraine.
Kiev accuses Moscow of deploying troops on the border and trying to destroy Ukraine.
Kiev has been battling Russian-backed separatist groups in eastern Ukraine since 2014.
Clashes have escalated since the start of the year and violated the ceasefire agreed in July 2020.
Concerns are rising that the conflict could return to wider fighting and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked for help from the West.
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