“Political expert” from Medvedchuk’s pool detained in Poland
1 April 17:14
The Security Service of Ukraine, together with the Foreign Intelligence Service and Polish law enforcement officers, detained a “political expert” from the media pool of Viktor Medvedchuk, a suspected high treason offender, in the EU. He was served with a notice of suspicion.
This was reported by the SBU, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The special services do not name the suspect, but, according to our source in law enforcement, it is Kirill Molchanov.
He was first detained in Poland, and now he is in one of Kyiv’s pre-trial detention centers. This is the first time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion that a Russian agent who worked against Ukraine in the information sphere was handed over at the request of the SBU.
The case file states that Molchanov worked simultaneously for two Russian special services: FSB and Russian Foreign Intelligence. At the direction of the Russians, he was engaged in discrediting Ukraine in the international arena and worked to undermine the internal situation in countries that are partners of Ukraine.
In 2022, he moved to Russia, where he later became one of the key ideologues of the Kremlin’s media projects “Druga Ukraina” and “Voice of Europe,” which are associated with Medvedchuk.
The man was also one of the frequent guests on the talk show of Vladimir Solovyov, who recently received a suspicion from the SBU. In 2023 alone, Molchanov participated 35 times in the propagandist’s live broadcasts, where he justified Russia’s armed aggression and spread fakes about the situation in Ukraine.
In addition, he organized street actions in the EU in the interests of the Kremlin, where he called for the curtailment of international support for Ukraine.
Among other things, he publicly called for the preparation of contracted terrorist attacks in Ukraine. For this purpose, the pseudo-political scientist used his Telegram channel, where he regularly shared chatbots of Russian special services that collect intelligence on the Defense Forces.
What is known about the suspect Molchanov?
Investigators notified Molchanov of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 436-2 and Part 6 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – justification, recognition of the lawfulness, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants and collaboration.
He faces up to 12 years in prison. The investigation is currently ongoing.
