DPR detains Jordanian citizen spying for Ukraine
DONETSK. June 6 (Interfax) - The State Security Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has announced the detention of an agent of the Ukrainian Security Service suspected of preparing an attack on Eduard Basurin of the DPR Defense Ministry.
"The State Security Ministry of the Donetsk People's Republic has detained an agent of the Ukrainian Security Service and citizen of the Kingdom of Jordan, Khaldoun Nayef Sayel Harahsheh, born on June 2, 1986," the ministry's press service said in a statement.
"Ukrainian Security Service officers detained the foreigner crossing the Ukrainian Mariinka checkpoint in August 2016. Representatives of the Ukrainian Security Service recruited Sayel Harahsheh by blackmailing him with deportation from Ukraine for an alleged violation," the statement said.
Following orders of Ukrainian security services in 2016-2018, the detainee "was creating caches, i.e. laying and removing various items, such as weapons, ammunition, and secret audio and video surveillance gadgets, in designated places; he was also making videos of various parts of the infrastructure and gathering information about the location of DPR military units, personal data of servicemen, and movements of military hardware," it said.
"The DPR State Security Ministry knows for sure that information delivered by Sayel Harahsheh to the Ukrainian Security Service was used for preparing and conducting acts of sabotage and terrorism in the republic. For instance, in winter of 2018 the foreigner was tasked with surveillance on the residence of a high-ranking DPR serviceman, Deputy Corps Commander of the DPR Defense Ministry Col. Eduard Basurin," the statement said.
The information received by the Ukrainian Security Service from Sayel Harahsheh was used for preparing an attempt on Basurin's life, it said.
"Relevant measures are being taken to identify persons related to the activity of Sayel Harahsheh and his Ukrainian curators," the ministry said.
The detainee was charged with spying. He is facing from 12 to 20 years in prison, according to DPR laws, it said.