WASHINGTON, October 23. /TASS/. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) created special units for cooperation with US and UK intelligence services, the Washington Post reported, citing officials.
According to them, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) together with the SBU created a department that would focus on operations of so-called active measures against Russia and would be isolated from other SBU units. It was dubbed the "Fifth Directorate". The newspaper's sources justify the creation of this division by the fight against Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents, who allegedly control Ukraine's intelligence services.
In addition to US intelligence, the SBU also actively cooperates with UK intelligence, the newspaper said. After the creation of the "Fifth Directorate", a sixth unit was created specifically for the SBU's cooperation with Britain’s MI6 spy agency, the newspaper quoted officials as saying.
The Washington Post pointed out that since 2015, "the CIA has spent provided Ukraine with advanced surveillance systems, trained recruits at sites in Ukraine as well as the United States, built new headquarters for departments in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, and shared intelligence on a scale that would have been unimaginable" before Crimea's reunification with Russia. The CIA "maintains a significant presence" in Kiev, the newspaper pointed out.