Home-bred spy accused in Ukraine

What Ukraine missed for all the 10 years of its independence that was a spy caught and condemned in the country. There was simply nothing to hand over to hostile side: since the time of Leonid Kravchuk’s presidentship, Americans, Englishmen and Canadians have been working as main advisers in different power structures, including the Cabinet of Ministers. It was told many times that they worked for their countries’ special services, though no one of Ukrainian leaders was impressed with these remarks. It is no secret that the West is well informed about situation in Ukrainian economy, about strategic reserves of Kiev, about condition of equipment and armament. Russia knows it as well, for not long ago this economy was a part of a big Soviet pie. So, does Russia need spies here? Nevertheless, the day before yesterday, military Court of Appeal of Central Ukrainian Region brought in a verdict of guilty of ex-colonel of Ukrainian Armed Forces Taras Bublik. Taras Bublik is guilty of connection with a foreign secret service and of causing damage to the state’s defensive capacity. The ex-colonel was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment and deprived of military rank. The trial was not very long. Two weeks ago, first reports appeared that the Military Court started to consider an espionage case. Nothing was reported more, except that that was a military. And just the day before yesterday, TV reported the Taras Bublik had turned traitor and showed a gloomy moustached man – spy number one in Ukraine. It is known that in Soviet times, Bublik served as an officer somewhere abroad, where he seems to have got into contact with foreign special services. After having returned to Ukraine in 1992, T.Bublik was appointed to a post in the General Staff office, where he worked to his resignation. In 1992, he got admission to secret documents. Since that time, Bublik started to gather secret military information and to hand it over to the representative of a foreign state organization, though not known of which one. The same year, Bublik met abroad with a foreign spy and received the task to gather information about Ukrainian Armed Force. Moreover, he got special spy equipment – a camera with high-sensibility film, brief case with secret section for documents, dictophon with audio-cassettes and means for secret writing. According to the court, the agent sent abroad some cryptography reports and handed over about a dozen of films. Taras Bublik met with foreign messenger in Ukraine and abroad, while using false passports he had got from the foreign secret service. For all the operation he received money, that were transmitted to his account in a foreign bank. The court referring to certain experts concluded that Bublik had caused a serious damage to defensive capacity of the country.

Alexandr Gorobets PRAVDA.Ru Kiev Ukraine

Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/02/20/37357.html