The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office announced the sentencing of Major General Valerii Shaitanov to 12 years behind bars with confiscation of property. He was found guilty of treason and preparation of terrorist attacks in the interests of the Russian Federation.
Shaitanov once held the position of first deputy head of the Special Operations Center "A" of the Security Srevice of Ukraine (SBU).
Prosecutors proved in court that the Major General of SBU collected information that was a state secret and passed it on to representatives of the Russian Federation.
Also, on the instructions of the Russian special services, the convict searched for people among former SBU servicemen to commit a terrorist attack.
He aimed to kill Major of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria, who, since February 2015, had headed the Dzhokhar Dudayev International Peacekeeping Battalion during the war in eastern Ukraine.
Then the law enforcement officers warned about the murder.
- SBU General Valerii Shaitanov was detained on April 14, 2020 for espionage for Russia. The investigation explained that Shaitanov was planning terrorist attacks in Ukraine, for which the Russian side promised him $200 000 and a Russian passport. He worked on the involvement of Ukrainians in the performance of FSB tasks on the territory of Europe.
- Later, the Shevchenko Court of Kyiv arrested Shaitanov for 60 days. He is suspected of espionage for FSB of Russia and of preparing the murder of volunteer Adam Osmayev. On April 16, another figure in this case was detained.
- Colonel of the Russian FSB Igor Egorov, who recruited the major general, turned out to be involved in the case of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 plane shot down in 2014 over Donbas. According to SBU, Yegorov was also one of the leaders of the militants in Donbas.