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Washington Post Obtained Russian communications intercepted by Ukraine and other countries.
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They include a senior officer who appears to be picking out the Kyiv apartment he wanted before the invasion began.
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Officials said Russia chose Ukrainian lodgings for personnel because it was certain of a quick victory.
A high-ranking Russian security official seemed so convinced of a quick Russian victory that he chose the Kyiv apartment he wanted to live in before the invasion of Ukraine began. The Washington Post reported.
Igor Kovalenko, identified by Ukraine as a senior officer in the FSB, the Russian security service, spoke with subordinates on Feb. 18, suggesting he chose an apartment in the Ukrainian capital.
The Russian invasion began on February 24, six days after the conversation.
Russia had expected a quick victory That included capturing Kyiv and installing a new government, but was unexpectedly met with stubborn Ukrainian resistance. Russia withdrew from Kyiv in April Since then it has focused on the East and South of the country.
The Post reported that the apartment is in “Kyiv’s leafy Obolon district, overlooking the Dnieper.”
In an intercepted communication, Kovalenko identified an apartment where an FSB informant was already living and asked for the address and contact details of the informant. the Post reported.
Communications seen by The Washington Post were intercepted by security agencies in Ukraine and other countries, the paper said.
Kovalenko had been dealing with Ukraine in his FSB role for years, The Post reported. He is a senior officer in the FSB’s 9th Operations Intelligence Service, working to bring Ukraine closer to Russia. He worked with Ukrainians who were secretly paid by Russia, the Post said.
Ukrainian officials told the Post that Ukraine detained and interrogated an unidentified informant when they intercepted Kovalenko’s communications.
A Ukrainian official told the Post that an informant admitted the FSB told him he needed to move out of his apartment days before the invasion.
Ukrainian security forces monitored the apartment after Ukraine intercepted the communication, but Kovalenko did not turn up, nor did other FSB officials, a Ukrainian official told The Post.
It is not clear what happened to the informant, whom Ukraine did not name.
The Post said Kovalenko did not respond to a request for comment.
Kovalenko said he would return to Russia at some point early in the invasion and return to Ukraine in late May, The Post reported. Ukrainian officials told the Post they no longer knew where he was.
Kovalenko’s confidence in choosing an apartment was also reflected by the FSB, the Post report said.
Russia has instructed several informants to leave their homes in Ukraine, but left their keys behind, The Washington Post reported. Ukrainian and Western officials told the Post that Russian officials are choosing accommodations for personnel they plan to bring into the country, hoping for an easy victory.
Read the original article at business insider