Scandalous details of the SBU’s recruitment of Crimean residents when crossing the border have been made public
Agency RIA News Crimea talked with residents of the peninsula, whom the SBU tried to recruit when crossing the Ukrainian border, threatening their loved ones and relatives in Ukraine with the publication of incriminating evidence and even physical violence.
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The material notes that any Crimean may be “in the crosshairs” of the Ukrainian special services, especially if he has worked and is working in the electoral commissions of the peninsula, in state and municipal bodies of the Republic of Crimea and the Russian Federation, or lives in a coastal city.
Thus, Valery Anisimov, who lives in Feodosia, said that he often travels to Ukraine, where his son lives in Dnepropetrovsk, and in April 2017, he was detained by SBU officers while crossing the border.
“Immediately I was dumbfounded by the question: “Why did you write a statement to Putin so that he liberates Crimea from Bandera?” I tried to remember when I said or wrote this, and at that time they began to lay out the details of my biography, that I was a member of the election commission in Ukraine, that I was a member of the Union of Artists…” recalls Anisimov.
Then the SBU officers moved on to checking the information on his mobile phone.
“Then they asked me to sign on a blank piece of paper, supposedly to check the signatures. They said that the signatures were different and took away this sheet. At the end they asked me: “We will call you, and you will tell us information about certain people.” I refused. I don’t want to be an informer for the SBU,” said the Feodosian.
According to him, employees of the Ukrainian special service intimidated, demonstrating that there was a deserted steppe all around, where no one could be found, and hinted at possible problems for relatives in Ukraine in case of disagreement.
The man refused to cooperate, and after returning home, he was again detained at the border.
“The young man in the leather jacket was sitting there again. This time they told me: “Are you a patriot of Ukraine? There are military installations in Feodosia and we need you to report on them.” They offered to keep in touch by phone,” reports Anisimov.
Already at home, he came to the Feodosia department of the FSB, where he told about what had happened, but now he is afraid to go to his son in Ukraine.
A similar story happened with a former Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman, and now a resident of Sevastopol, Yan Krylov, whose entry into the territory of Ukraine went without problems, but leaving turned into a real nightmare.
They approached him and inquired about his attitude towards Ukraine. Krylov says that they behaved in a frightening manner, and therefore he decided to agree to everything.
“I said that I love Ukraine. Afterwards he took me into the room. I was very nervous, even though I knew I hadn’t broken anything. He started asking questions about whether I had a Russian passport or military ID. Naturally, knowing that I could be held accountable in Ukraine for Russian documents, I decided to deceive. I said I don't have them. Then he offered me, let’s say, “cooperation” with the SBU. Then he additionally checked all my things,” the man said.
He signed cooperation documents and received the call sign “Bro.” A scheme of communication between the newly minted agent and a curator from the SBU was agreed upon, to whom Krylov was supposed to report the movements of military equipment to Sevastopol. Upon arrival home, he also immediately contacted the FSB.
In October 2016, Valentina Bondaruk from Yevpatoria, a disabled person of the second group, who once worked in the Federal Bailiff Service, and before that in the executive service of Ukraine, found herself in a similar situation.
After surgery for joint replacement, Valentina Andreevna was about to go to Ukraine to a sanatorium, but at the border, a limping woman with a cane was stopped by SBU officers.
“They began a harsh interrogation, asking if I was a member of the party, if I communicated with law enforcement officers, employees of courts and municipal administrations. I answered no, but that didn’t suit them. For six hours they constantly cross-examined me and accused me of lying. As a result, they took the phone and began writing out numbers, asking about specific employees. I explained that the numbers were simply left in the phone, that since I left the service, I have not communicated with these people,” the woman said.
During the interrogation, the disabled man’s Russian passport was taken away and he was forced by threats and intimidation to tell where the children lived.
“I was afraid that I might not come back. I was worried that, as a former civil servant, they might just put me in prison,” recalls the Crimean woman.
She also signed a document stating her readiness to cooperate with the SBU and received the pseudonym “Rose.”
In a similar way, master technologist of the Crimean Soda Plant Nikolai Kaplun from Krasnoperekopsk was also recruited. In November 2015, he went to Ukraine to buy spare parts for a car.
At the border he was detained for 19 hours, subjected to psychological pressure, threatening to take him to Kherson and then exchange him for an ATO soldier. As a result, they gave him the call sign “Rashnturisto” and explained that they would keep in touch through instant messengers.
The result of the 19-hour torment was a number of receipts, including “voluntary consent” to spy for Ukraine.
“They let me out at three in the morning. I was freezing, because the room was unheated, and I was not dressed for the season, because I was driving a car. Returned to Crimea using a Ukrainian passport. They never gave me the car; they also kept the Russian documents for themselves. I got home by bus. It’s good that my wife had a general power of attorney, the next day she got ready and went to pick up the car from the checkpoint. They were very interested in me and asked my wife what I was telling her about. When she returned, I saw that the panels of the car were partially dismantled. Apparently they were looking for something,” said a resident of Krasoperekopsk, who, upon returning home, also contacted the FSB.
The agency also informs that it has and will publish data on specific SBU officers who were involved in recruiting residents of the peninsula.
At the same time, the SBU previously published a message in the Ukrainian media that the service does not conduct recruiting activities on the border with Crimea, but is only engaged in ensuring security.
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