A "political expert" from the media pool of treason suspect Viktor Medvedchuk has been detained in Poland. This is the first time a Russian agent working against the state in the information sphere has been handed over to Ukraine.
This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
The press service does not name the suspect, but Babelʼs sources in law enforcement agencies say that it is Kirill Molchanov.
According to the investigation, Molchanov worked simultaneously for two Russian intelligence services — the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Foreign Intelligence Service (GRU) of Russia. SBU says he discredited Ukraine on the international stage and tried to destabilize the internal situation in Ukraineʼs partner countries.
In 2022, he left for Russia, where he later became one of the key ideologists of the Kremlin media projects "Drugaya Ukraina" and "Voice of Europe".
The suspect was also a frequent guest on Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyovʼs talk show. In 2023 alone, he participated in his live broadcasts 35 times, justifying Russiaʼs war and spreading fake news about the situation in Ukraine.
According to SBU, Molchanov also organized street protests in the European Union in the interests of the Kremlin, where he called for the curtailment of international support for Ukraine. He also publicly called for contract terrorist attacks in Ukraine.
To do this, he used his Telegram channel, on which he regularly "reposted" chatbots of Russian special services that collect intelligence about the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
Molchanov was initially detained in Poland, and is now in a pre-trial detention center in Kyiv. He was informed of suspicion of justifying Russiaʼs war
- On April 1, Poland reported the detention of a 47-year-old Ukrainian man suspected of spying for Russia.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.