Court arrests Belarusian spy who previously worked as journalist in Kyiv

Mariana Haiovska-Kovbasiuk, spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office, said this in a comment to Ukrinform.

"On January 22, the investigating judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court ordered her detention without the right to post bail," she said, commenting on the preventive measure imposed on the former journalist detained by the security services.

On Tuesday, January 27, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) released information about the detention of a spy of the Belarusian KGB who was attempting to infiltrate the ranks of Ukrainian military intelligence. The 35-year-old agent was detained in Kyiv and formally charged with espionage.

According to media reports, the suspect is Inna Kardash.

Investigators believe the detainee had been working for the Belarusian KGB since 2015. In 2020, she was deployed to Ukraine for intelligence operations. Her cover was journalistic activity: after working for the sanctioned TV channel 112, affiliated with politician Viktor Medvedchuk, the spy secured employment with one of Ukraine's leading media outlets.

According to the SBU, during the full-scale invasion her handler instructed her to travel to one of the EU countries for additional briefing. She crossed the border under the pretext of undergoing medical examinations.

To communicate with a Belarusian intelligence officer in the EU, the suspect purchased a new smartphone with a "single-use" SIM card and later disposed of the device.

During the briefing, the spy was tasked with collecting information on citizens of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation who were assisting Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor state.

The agent also received instructions from the Belarusian KGB to establish informal contacts with officials of the Chinese Embassy in order to gather intelligence on the activities of Chinese diplomats in Ukraine.

After returning to Kyiv, the agent attempted to secure a position in one of the headquarters units of Ukraine's military intelligence, where she came under internal counterintelligence scrutiny by HUR's own security service.

Among other activities, attempts were documented to identify potential candidates for recruitment into the KGB's agent network.

After gathering a comprehensive body of evidence, the SBU, in cooperation with the HUR, detained the suspect near her place of residence. A smartphone and a voice recorder used to record classified information were seized from her.

SBU investigators have notified her of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 114 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (espionage). The suspect remains in custody and faces up to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.