A senior figure in Ukraine's intelligence service (SBU) has been arrested on suspicion of working as a Russian agent.

The service did not name the man, who it said was chief of staff of its anti-terrorism centre, but Ukrainian media quoting sources in the SBU say he is Col Dmytro Kozyura.

Local media showed him handcuffed while being arrested by SBU head Vasyl Malyuk.

A statement said there were at least 14 instances in which the suspect, who it described as a "rat", had collected and transmitted information to Russia. The SBU said the investigation involved audio and video monitoring, as well as gaining access to mobile phones and computers.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has announced numerous operations to expose Russian agents on its soil.

Malyuk had been personally involved in the investigation into the suspect and headed the operation to arrest him, the SBU statement said, adding that he reported directly on its progress to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

It said Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) recruited him in Vienna in 2018. He was "mothballed" for several years and his handlers only resumed contact with him last December.

"Thanks to encrypted programme bookmarks, we got into the traitor's gadgets - mobile terminals, computers," Malyuk said in a video statement posted on the SBU website.

"We basically lived with him, conducted audio and video monitoring. In the process of all this, we managed to efficiently document the collection and transmission of relevant information by the traitor to the enemy."

Malyuk added the SBU had been feeding Moscow disinformation during the course of the investigation.

"The self-cleansing of the SBU continues. No matter how the enemy tries to penetrate our ranks... he will not be able to do it successfully. Because we detect them in a timely manner, document them and detain them." (BBC)

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