Operation to Detain 'Wagner Fighters': SBI Plans to Question Yermak, Intelligence Officers' Passports Revoked

"If necessary," the investigator will summon Volodymyr Zelensky for questioning as well.

The State Bureau of Investigation plans to question Andriy Yermak, head of the Presidential Office, while intelligence officers have had their passports revoked. We bring you the latest news related to the operation to detain "Wagner fighters".

Planned Questioning of Yermak

The acting head of the SBI said on the program "Right to Power" that the agency plans to question Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President, in the coming days regarding the preparation of the special operation to detain "Wagner fighters" and its failure.

Oleksiy Sukhachov
Acting Head of the SBI

To date, the investigation has not received a single fact or piece of evidence (that Yermak is guilty of disrupting the special operation — ed.). We will summon Mr. Yermak for questioning over the next few days. Why aren't we doing it today? Because we are waiting for certain information from our colleagues in law enforcement. In the coming days we will invite Mr. Yermak for questioning, and he will inform the public personally — or we will inform them if such a request is made.

Regarding the possibility of questioning the president, Sukhachov stated that an investigator has the right to question any person, regardless of position, so "if necessary", the investigator will summon Volodymyr Zelensky for questioning as well.

Revocation of Intelligence Officers' Passports

Ukrainian authorities have declared invalid the passports of five former intelligence officers who took part in preparing the special operation to detain "Wagner fighters". After a check, the record of invalidity was supposedly cancelled, but they were unable to explain how this happened.

The program "Schemes: Corruption in Detail" on Radio Svoboda conducted a journalistic investigation. A week after the failure of the special operation, Vasyl Burba was dismissed from his post as head of the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate. At least four other GUR employees who prepared the special operation were also dismissed.

Subsequently, the passports of all five former intelligence officers were declared invalid: former GUR head Vasyl Burba, Yuriy Semenyuk, Roman Chervinskyi, Ihor Dzera, and one other intelligence officer who asked not to be named. The basis for confiscating the passport and banning travel abroad was a letter on Migration Service letterhead sent to the Border Guard Service.

The letter also included a passport in the name of Vasyl Meskhi. Journalists established that this is a cover document held by the head of military intelligence, Vasyl Burba. They received the letter from two unconnected sources in the State Border Guard Service after the incident involving Yuriy Semenyuk.

On May 1, 2021, Yuriy Semenyuk, who had been dismissed from the Defense Ministry's GUR at the time, arrived at Boryspil airport to board a flight to Egypt. However, he was denied permission to cross the border. Semenyuk said he was travelling on a dive safari with a diving club.

Border Guard officers provided him with two documents: a ban on crossing the state border and an order confiscating his passport. Information about his passport being invalidated was posted in the border guards' internal database. The Migration Service letter noted that the intelligence officers' passports had supposedly been issued in violation of the law and were therefore subject to confiscation.

The Migration Service responded to journalists' request: "A letter dated February 19, 2021 with such details on invalidating the passports of a citizen of Ukraine for travel abroad was not created, signed, registered, or sent to the State Border Guard Service by the State Migration Service."

The State Migration Service has no information that the passports of the five former GUR Defense Ministry employees were issued in violation of the law. The State Special Communications Service reported that no letter with the relevant details was sent from the Migration Service to the Border Guard Service between February 19 and 25, either by courier or by special communications.

Border guards stated that the letter arrived by postal mail but did not provide other details. They did not keep the envelope. Border guards claim that, following a review, they deleted the records of invalidity for the passports of Semenyuk and other intelligence officers from the interagency system "Arkan".

Although the database now lists Yuriy Semenyuk's passport as valid, he cannot use it. The passport was returned to him from the Migration Service cut up. Semenyuk reported to the National Police the unlawful deprivation of his right to freedom of movement and the improper confiscation of his travel passport.

He filed a criminal complaint under Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (forgery in office). Semenyuk told journalists that confiscating his passport could have been a continuation of administrative pressure on the intelligence officers who carried out the special operation against "Wagner fighters". Possibly, someone was afraid that the former intelligence officers would seek a meeting with the investigator from Bellingcat, Christo Grozev.

Vasyl Burba also spoke of pressure from the authorities. Journalists asked the Presidential Office to comment on the alleged administrative pressure on former GUR Defense Ministry employees and the falsification of the letter that served as the basis for revoking the intelligence officers' passports.