A Top Russian Spy Chose An Apartment In Kyiv Before The Invasion

In February, before Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine, Moscow’s power brokers assumed it would be a short and easy war, according to information provided to the Washington Post. Igor Kovalenko, a senior FSB official who commanded spies in Ukraine, was among them. According to wiretapping by Ukrainian secret services and their Western counterparts, Kovalenko had his eye on an apartment in Kyiv, asking an FSB subordinate for the contact details of the informant who lived there. Ukrainian intelligence said the informant admitted he was instructed to leave the city in the days before the war began – and to leave his keys behind so the Russians could use his apartment overlooking the Dnieper River. Indeed, the Russians were so confident of taking Kyiv that they issued similar instructions to informers and moles throughout the Ukrainian capital, preparing a network of safe houses for workers and quarters for officers. But Russian soldiers have yet to set foot in Kyiv. Little more than a month after the invasion began, Russian forces, bogged down around the capital and unable to encircle it, staged a hasty retreat. Russian propaganda at the time played up the Kyiv move as a pretense, putting Ukraine on edge so that it could achieve its real objective – the eastern industrial region known as Donbas, where Russian troops are mired today. The wiretapping, however, shows not only that Russia intended to seize the capital and “behead” the Ukrainian government by removing its leadership — a goal long reported by Ukrainian and Western intelligence services. the intercepts show the Russians thought it would be easy. “They were waiting for someone to open the gate,” a senior Ukrainian official told the Washington Post. “They didn’t expect any resistance.”

title: “A Top Russian Spy Chose An Apartment In Kyiv Before The Invasion Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-07” author: “Catherine Nielsen”

In February, before Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine, Moscow’s power brokers assumed it would be a short and easy war, according to information provided to the Washington Post. Igor Kovalenko, a senior FSB official who commanded spies in Ukraine, was among them. According to wiretapping by Ukrainian secret services and their Western counterparts, Kovalenko had his eye on an apartment in Kyiv, asking an FSB subordinate for the contact details of the informant who lived there. Ukrainian intelligence said the informant admitted he was instructed to leave the city in the days before the war began – and to leave his keys behind so the Russians could use his apartment overlooking the Dnieper River. Indeed, the Russians were so confident of taking Kyiv that they issued similar instructions to informers and moles throughout the Ukrainian capital, preparing a network of safe houses for workers and quarters for officers. But Russian soldiers have yet to set foot in Kyiv. Little more than a month after the invasion began, Russian forces, bogged down around the capital and unable to encircle it, staged a hasty retreat. Russian propaganda at the time played up the Kyiv move as a pretense, putting Ukraine on edge so that it could achieve its real objective – the eastern industrial region known as Donbas, where Russian troops are mired today. The wiretapping, however, shows not only that Russia intended to seize the capital and “behead” the Ukrainian government by removing its leadership — a goal long reported by Ukrainian and Western intelligence services. the intercepts show the Russians thought it would be easy. “They were waiting for someone to open the gate,” a senior Ukrainian official told the Washington Post. “They didn’t expect any resistance.”

title: “A Top Russian Spy Chose An Apartment In Kyiv Before The Invasion Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-21” author: “Susan Hebert”

In February, before Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine, Moscow’s power brokers assumed it would be a short and easy war, according to information provided to the Washington Post. Igor Kovalenko, a senior FSB official who commanded spies in Ukraine, was among them. According to wiretapping by Ukrainian secret services and their Western counterparts, Kovalenko had his eye on an apartment in Kyiv, asking an FSB subordinate for the contact details of the informant who lived there. Ukrainian intelligence said the informant admitted he was instructed to leave the city in the days before the war began – and to leave his keys behind so the Russians could use his apartment overlooking the Dnieper River. Indeed, the Russians were so confident of taking Kyiv that they issued similar instructions to informers and moles throughout the Ukrainian capital, preparing a network of safe houses for workers and quarters for officers. But Russian soldiers have yet to set foot in Kyiv. Little more than a month after the invasion began, Russian forces, bogged down around the capital and unable to encircle it, staged a hasty retreat. Russian propaganda at the time played up the Kyiv move as a pretense, putting Ukraine on edge so that it could achieve its real objective – the eastern industrial region known as Donbas, where Russian troops are mired today. The wiretapping, however, shows not only that Russia intended to seize the capital and “behead” the Ukrainian government by removing its leadership — a goal long reported by Ukrainian and Western intelligence services. the intercepts show the Russians thought it would be easy. “They were waiting for someone to open the gate,” a senior Ukrainian official told the Washington Post. “They didn’t expect any resistance.”

title: “A Top Russian Spy Chose An Apartment In Kyiv Before The Invasion Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-09” author: “Donald Wright”

In February, before Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine, Moscow’s power brokers assumed it would be a short and easy war, according to information provided to the Washington Post. Igor Kovalenko, a senior FSB official who commanded spies in Ukraine, was among them. According to wiretapping by Ukrainian secret services and their Western counterparts, Kovalenko had his eye on an apartment in Kyiv, asking an FSB subordinate for the contact details of the informant who lived there. Ukrainian intelligence said the informant admitted he was instructed to leave the city in the days before the war began – and to leave his keys behind so the Russians could use his apartment overlooking the Dnieper River. Indeed, the Russians were so confident of taking Kyiv that they issued similar instructions to informers and moles throughout the Ukrainian capital, preparing a network of safe houses for workers and quarters for officers. But Russian soldiers have yet to set foot in Kyiv. Little more than a month after the invasion began, Russian forces, bogged down around the capital and unable to encircle it, staged a hasty retreat. Russian propaganda at the time played up the Kyiv move as a pretense, putting Ukraine on edge so that it could achieve its real objective – the eastern industrial region known as Donbas, where Russian troops are mired today. The wiretapping, however, shows not only that Russia intended to seize the capital and “behead” the Ukrainian government by removing its leadership — a goal long reported by Ukrainian and Western intelligence services. the intercepts show the Russians thought it would be easy. “They were waiting for someone to open the gate,” a senior Ukrainian official told the Washington Post. “They didn’t expect any resistance.”