Former guards of futigive president Yanukovych charged in major spying case
Source: SBU, National Police
Ukrainian authorities said they have uncovered a sophisticated spy network working in Ukraine for Russia’s FSB. According to the SBU, the agents spied on Ukrainian intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and high-level officials while their Russian handlers planned to use the gathered information for “assassinations, recruitment, and psychological operations”.
Among the detained men were two former security guards of Viktor Yanukovych and an active National Guard officer. The spying plot was led by Dmitry Ivantsov, a former head of the State Guard Department who helped Yanukovych to flee to Russia in 2014. Recruited by FSB in 2012, Ivantsov is now residing in occupied Crimea.
His spy network included Roman Lapa, another Yanukovych security service guard, and a 46-year-old National Guard officer whose name was not disclosed. The officer who earlier worked as Ivantsov’s driver was found using his connections within law enforcement to gather ‘sensitive information’ about Ukrainian officials.
The National Guard officer was arrested and now is facing treason charges, while Ivantsov and Lapa have been charged in absentia under the same allegations.
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
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