Russia's FSB active in Donbas - intelligence
Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Maksym Prauta said this at a briefing on Monday, with reference to intelligence data from the ministry.
"According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Russia's FSB has intensified its activity in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions since the beginning of January this year," Prauta said.
According to him, the number of cases when the operational groups of Russian special services were involved in taking special measures to conceal the aggressive preparations of the Russian occupying troops under the pretext of alleged "fight against acts of sabotage" has increased. In addition, under the control of Russian FSB officers, so-called republican law enforcement agencies tightened the border crossing regime at sections of the border not controlled by Ukraine in order to prevent the outflow of conscripts from temporarily occupied territories of Donbas.
In particular, they were forbidden to leave without a special permission. In addition, a census of citizens is being conducted at checkpoints and documents are being verified with databases, according to the Defense Ministry.