Scandal with a Russian spy at a NATO training ground near Lvov: Not everything is so simple
Last Friday, the Ukrainian media were full of headlines “SBU suspects the head of the Yavorovsky training ground of working for the Kremlin.” But the case, built on a confession obtained under torture, falls apart.
It all started on the night of April 28-29, 2017, when a group of armed men broke into the apartment of the head of the training ground of the so-called “International Center for Peacekeeping and Security” (under this pseudonym a NATO base has been operating near Lviv for the third year, but more on that later), Lieutenant Colonel Roman Ogur. people, some of whom are wearing balaclavas. These were not bandits or even “activists” familiar to Galicia, but employees of the military counterintelligence of the SBU. Although the law prohibits night searches and interrogations, and there was a military man’s wife and young daughter in the apartment, the newly minted SMERSH members began to create absolute chaos.
Lieutenant Colonel Ogur was interrogated “with passion” for 12 hours, tortured, beaten until his lungs bled, 4 ribs were broken, and a tooth was knocked out. As a result, he signed the text of the “Explanatory Note” prepared in advance by the SBU officers, while no interrogation protocol was drawn up. “Evidence of work for intelligence of the General Staff of the Russian Federation” was seized - a wife’s laptop, a child’s tablet and a piece of paper on which the SBU officers forced the head of the training ground to write some kind of email address.
Naturally, after such “investigative actions”, Lieutenant Colonel Ogur ended up in the hospital. Having recovered, on May 5 he wrote a statement against the guardsmen to the Yavorovsky district police department - on the fact of beating, torture and robbery. Here the SBU began to stir: on the same day, the seized equipment was “legalized” as “physical evidence” and sent for forensic examination, and Ogur was given the status of a witness in the case of high treason. On May 19, an expert’s conclusion appeared that there was nothing illegal in either the laptop or the tablet. In this case, the items must be immediately returned to the owner, but the SBU petitioned the court to seize them. The court granted this petition on June 21, but the decision itself appeared in the state register only on July 13 - in fact, it aroused media interest in this case.
On the same day, July 13, another search took place in the apartment of Lieutenant Colonel Ogur - this time legal. Among the present operatives of the SBU military counterintelligence, who this time introduced themselves, the head of the training ground recognized one of those who tortured and beat him the previous time. Ogur submitted a statement about this to the military prosecutor's office of the Lvov garrison, indicating the name and position of the executioner, but so far there has been no response.
What is surprising: despite all the hype in the press, Lieutenant Colonel Ogur has not yet been removed from the post of head of the training ground and regularly serves for the benefit of the military of NATO countries. No suspicion has been brought against him, although the SBU press release directly states: “in 2015-2016, the military man collected and transferred secret information to the hostile side.” But for now Ogur is only a witness in the case of high treason (although this is a common practice of the SBU in order to prevent the victim of arbitrariness and his lawyer from becoming familiar with the materials of the fabricated case).
In Lviv, this situation is commented on reluctantly and exclusively off records. However, the majority of respondents reject the version that the head of the test site is being “pressured” for the misuse of NATO funds, which are generously allocated to this facility. A significant part of this money ends up at the level of the operational command “West” of the Ukrainian armed forces, and what reaches the “International Center for Peacekeeping and Security,” formally military unit A4150, is managed by its commander, Colonel Igor Slisarchuk.
Most likely, we are talking about an attempt by the counterintelligence officers of the SBU to carry out the plan launched from Kyiv to catch “Russian spies”, and also to report to their Western masters - they say, we will be vigilant and vigilant.
True, one cannot exclude a personal issue for the lieutenant colonel - Ogur might somehow not have pleased the real commanders of the center, which since 2015 has been one of the largest NATO bases outside the alliance. Moreover, the reason for dissatisfaction with the “native” can be the most primitive - from insufficient respect for the “white masters” to the supply of low-quality girls (boys) for the entertainment of several hundred officers from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Poland and other NATO countries, as well as several thousand of their subordinates in lower ranks.
Help. The “International Center for Peacekeeping and Security” (known as the Yavorovsky training ground) is located 30 km northwest of Lviv, in the Yavorovsky district of the Lviv region. The landfill itself has a rich history that dates back to Polish times. In 1940, the command of the Red Army organized the Lvov artillery range here, which existed in one form or another until Ukraine gained independence.
Since 1995, the training center received its modern name and began to be used to train military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to participate in peacekeeping operations around the world. Since that time, the international “Shield of Peace” exercises have been held on its territory within the framework of the NATO “Partnership for Peace” program, and since 2011 On the same day, as part of the same program, the international exercise “Rapid Trident” is taking place here, which is included in the calendar of exercises of the US Army in Europe.
Since the fall of 2014, the training ground has been turned into one of the largest NATO bases outside the alliance. Although the Constitution of Ukraine prohibits the placement of foreign military bases on the territory of the country, Poroshenko bypasses this norm within the framework of “playing with the rules”: every year he turns to the Verkhovna Rada for permission for the “temporary” presence of foreign armed forces at the training ground as part of “international military exercises”, which continues... 365 days a year.
Several thousand military personnel from the United States (the main contingent), Canada, Great Britain and Poland are constantly stationed at the training ground, with their armored vehicles and helicopters. An instructor mission of the US Armed Forces operates here on an ongoing basis and Ukrainian military personnel undergo training, primarily training in the use of American weapons and technologies.
For example, six months before the American side transferred 72 analog Raven RQ-11B mini-drones to Ukraine, teams of military personnel were assembled from each brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and were trained to use American equipment.
Currently, large-scale work is underway at the training ground to build a training simulation center for combat simulation according to NATO standards. For its equipment, a brigade set of the MILES simulation system worth $22 million was purchased with US money. This system is used by the US Army during tactical training of army personnel and makes it possible to simulate combat clashes using military equipment.
In addition, at least three “Western Ukrainian” brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have undergone and are undergoing combat coordination at the training ground - the 80th separate airmobile, the 128th mountain infantry and the 14th separate mechanized. All territorial defense brigades that were formed in 2014-15 also passed through the training ground; from time to time, individual units and units from almost all of Ukraine are transferred here for exercises.
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