SBU detains chief of fake anti-Ukrainian organization in Chernivtsi

Agents from Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) in Bukovyna have raided the Defense of National Minorities organization, which was created using money provided by Russian agents. The organization disseminated anti-Ukrainian propaganda, according to the SBU's press service.

During a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday, chief of the SBU's information protection department Viktor Kononenko said law-enforcement officers documented how the head of the fake organization popularized ideas of the so-called "separatism of Halychyna": they distributed materials calling for an economic and political independence of special western Ukrainian regions.

"The head of the group prepared and published articles supporting militant organizations in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's republics, as well as the anti-Ukrainian policies of the Russian Federation internationally," the SBU statement said.

A criminal case pursuant to Part 1 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine was opened and SBU agents searched the residence of the head of the organization. SBU agents seized materials, including electronic records of pro-Russian activists in Ukraine and other countries.

Electronic correspondence showed leaders of the group were planning to organize public events involving European politicians to create an "image" for television media about so-called discrimination in Ukraine against national minorities and the need to expand their rights.