SBU conducts 150 special operations in 3 days in large-scale security crackdown
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted 157 special operations from Jan. 18-20, the agency said on Jan. 22.
The SBU issued the announcement after reporting a wave of investigations, arrests, and charges in recent days. Suspects were accused of various crimes, including aiding Russia's war effort.
The agency carried out 157 special operations from Jan. 18-20 in order to "counter crimes that pose a threat to state security, territorial integrity and defense capabilities of our country," the SBU said.
The actions resulted in 222 charges and 85 detentions, the agency said. The SBU also carried out 287 searches during the operations.
According to the SBU, the three-day crackdown targeted 19 agents suspected to have carried out intelligence and sabotage activities on behalf of Russian special services. It also netted 24 individuals who allegedly harmed "the economic interests" of Ukraine.
The SBU charged 63 people with participating in draft evasion schemes and 39 individuals with crimes related to the military, including embezzling from the state defense budget.
Another seven were charged with illegal weapons trafficking, and seven others allegedly spread propaganda or otherwise posed threats to Ukraine's cybersecurity, the agency reported.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Jan. 18, the first day of the recent crackdown, praised Ukrainian law enforcement agencies for their investigations.
"Traitors and various schemes that weakened our state and our Ukrainian society are being countered," the president said.
"And anyone who stands against Ukraine or defies the laws of Ukraine must remember, that they will face a response."
The SBU has announced high-profile arrests in recent days, including the detention of a well-known Dnipro lawyer who allegedly helped Russia carry out missile strikes and that of Ukraine's chief military psychaitrist, who is suspected of illicit enrichment activities.
Martin Fornusek
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