KYIV (Reuters) – A number of Ukrainian servicemen have been accused of treason for giving away information during an unauthorised mission that enabled Russia to attack a military airfield, Ukraine’s SBU security agency said on Thursday.
The SBU said in a statement that the servicemen had attempted, “without coordination with the relevant state authorities”, to seize a Russian plane last July after its pilot said he would defect.
During the “special operation”, they revealed details about the location of Ukrainian air force personnel and aircraft that made it possible for Russia to carry out a successful missile strike on the Kanatove airfield in central Ukraine, it said.
A Ukrainian commander was killed, 17 other personnel were wounded, two fighter jets were destroyed and the airstrip, buildings and equipment suffered significant damage, the SBU said in the statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.
The SBU did not say how many service personnel were involved, or identify them, but said they were accused of treason and abuse of their position.
“According to the investigation, the (air) strike was caused by the arbitrary actions of individual servicemen who decided to… seize a plane of the Russian Aerospace Forces, whose pilot supposedly agreed to an offer to defect to Ukraine,” it said.
“These actions of individual servicemen, which led to serious consequences, death and injury of Ukraine’s defenders and harmed the country’s defence capabilities, require an appropriate legal assessment.”
The accused could not be reached for comment. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February last year, did not comment on the SBU statement.
(Reporting by Max Hunder, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
