Ukrainian Consul Detained by FSB in Russia

Officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Ukrainian consul Oleksandr Sosoniuk in St. Petersburg. He is accused of “obtaining confidential information from the databases of law enforcement agencies and FSB.”

This was reported by the FSB public relations centre, noting that the Ukrainian diplomat met with a Russian citizen. Both were detained during the transmission of “classified information.”

“This activity is incompatible with the status of a diplomatic mission representative and implies a clear hostility towards the Russian Federation,” the Russians said, adding that they plan to take “measures in accordance with international law” in relation to the Ukrainian diplomat.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed its indignation over the incident. Ministry’s Spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said in a comment to BBC Ukraine that the actions by Russian security forces were another provocation against the background of Russia’s destabilising behaviour.

The diplomat added that the Ukrainian consul was detained for only a few hours.

“He currently stays in a Ukrainian diplomatic mission. The circumstances of the detention are being clarified,” Nikolenko said.

According to him, the Ukrainian side will decide how to react to this provocation “taking into account the existing practice” in the near future.

Bohdan Marusyak