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A Russian colonel was accused of promoting info on the whereabouts of his personal males to overseas intelligence businesses by involved Russians, in response to Ukrainian authorities.
An audio recording of what the Ukrainian Protection Ministry’s Foremost Intelligence Directorate says is an intercepted telephone name seems to recommend the colonel was not the primary who was accused of promoting out his personal troops. The decision, launched Monday, features a dialog between a person recognized as a Russian soldier and a feminine acquaintance. No particulars had been supplied on the place the soldier was primarily based in Ukraine, however he may be heard within the recording complaining of fixed shelling.
The dialog then takes an fascinating flip when the unnamed lady notes that a squadron of the “thirty first Brigade” was given up by their very own Russian colonel, apparently referring to the thirty first Guards Air Assault Brigade.
“The airborne troops taken captive?” the person asks.
“Sure, sure, 76 folks had been taken,” she says, including that “they had been bought out by their very own” and naming a “Colonel Matkovsky” for the betrayal.
“There have already been many such situations,” the person responds, noting that “they leak info” in regards to the troops.
“It’s true, it’s true. I later spoke with a FSBishnik [an agent of Russia’s Federal Security Service] … and he mentioned sure, it’s all true. They discovered 17 million in his account,” she mentioned.
The girl went on to say she hadn’t requested for clarification on what forex the cash was present in, earlier than showing to recommend the Russian colonel had been paid by American intelligence businesses.
“It’s comprehensible, the stinking U.S. is struggling. They've starvation, chilly,” she mentioned.
Ukrainian intelligence didn't say when the telephone name was mentioned to have taken place, or present any additional info on the destiny of the Russian colonel or troops talked about within the dialog.
However the thirty first Guards Air Assault Brigade, one in every of Russia’s most elite airborne models, suffered heavy losses in a Russian offensive outdoors Kyiv in late February and early March, and a number of other Russian troops had been mentioned to have been captured at the moment.
The Normal Workers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine additionally mentioned in early April that 25 members of the brigade had refused to struggle any additional in Ukraine.
U.S. intelligence has not publicly confirmed that any Russian commanders have handed over intel on troop actions in Ukraine, however the CIA did launch a very public marketing campaign in Could to solicit info from Russians relating to the conflict.
The company revealed Russian-language directions on social media urging wannabe informants to make “digital contact” utilizing the Tor Web browser. Those that make contact are then vetted to find out if they honestly have “info of curiosity” to U.S. spies.