Ukraine set up fake job at coordination body to expose Belarusian spy
Belarusian spies specially created a pseudo-workplace, the Coordination Headquarters reported (Photo: HUR MO)
Ukrainian law enforcement staged an undercover operation and set up a fake workplace to expose Belarusian national Inna Kardash, accused of spying in Ukraine, an official told Ukrinform in an interview on May 4.
Ukrainian counterintelligence said it exposed a Belarusian agent in late January. Investigators said the 35-year-old woman had worked for Belarus’ State Security Committee (KGB) since 2015 and was sent to Ukraine for intelligence work in 2020. Her cover was journalism: after working for the sanctioned 112 channel, she later joined “one of Ukraine’s leading media outlets.”
During a monthslong operation, law enforcement documented her activities and ran an operational game, feeding her disinformation disguised as classified data.
“She believed she was working with the Coordination Headquarters. A fake workplace was set up for her. She had no access to the headquarters’ premises and was located elsewhere. The site was prepared to record everything, and the materials she received contained no real information. Once all actions were documented, her detention was organized,” Okhrimenko said.
He added there had been “signals” about a possible exchange of the detained Belarusian to her home country, but “beyond talks, nothing has happened so far.”
“We are open to proposals. We have no interest in holding foreign criminals at our expense while our unlawfully convicted citizens remain imprisoned in inhumane conditions. If there are concrete proposals, we will consider them,” Okhrimenko said.
In Ukraine, Inna Kardash worked for the sanctioned 112 channel and at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency from 2021 to 2024, the agency’s director, Yehor Boltryk, confirmed.
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