Russia working on psy-op against Ukrainian officials – Ukrainian Intelligence

The Russian secret services are working on an extensive special information and psychological operation to discredit Ukraine’s military and political leadership.

Source: Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine on Telegram

Details: Defence Intelligence has discovered that the smear campaign will be particularly targeted against Serhii Shaptala, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Vasyl Maliuk, chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine; Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defence; Andrii Yermak, Head of the President’s Office; and Ivan Vyhovskyi, Acting Chief of the National Police, among others.

Intelligence reports say that among other things, the campaign will include leaking bogus stories in the Ukrainian and international media.

Quote: "The goal of the special information and psychological operation is to sow uncertainty about the defence capabilities of our state among Ukrainian citizens and [our] international partners. This, according to the Russian special services, should lead to political instability inside the country and reduce confidence in Ukraine on the part of the international anti-Putinist coalition."

Background:

• On 21 January, the Zn.ua news agency reported that the prices that Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence is paying for soldiers’ food are two or three times higher than in Kyiv shops. The December agreement with Aktiv Company [the company which supplies food to the Armed Forces of Ukraine – ed.] was signed on behalf of the ministry by Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, who has been involved in a case concerning the embezzlement of US$580,000 while purchasing military ammunition.
• The Ministry of Defence said the allegation of overpriced food was a lie and promised to refer the matter to the Security Service of Ukraine.
• Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov denied the corruption allegations against the Ministry of Defence, linking the surfacing of the tender allegations with the Ramstein meeting, and stated that the person responsible for the hoax will be prosecutedю 
• The State Investigation Bureau of Ukraine reported in mid-January that it had blocked a massive military food theft scheme, and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau stated that it had opened an investigation into the theft of food before the media reported it.
• Viacheslav Shapovalov, the Deputy Defence Minister of Ukraine, resigned and was dismissed on 24 January amid the scandal about inflated food prices for the military.
• It was reported on 25 January that Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, the head of the state procurement department at the Ministry of Defence, has also been dismissed.

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