Editing Security Service of Ukraine (section)

===2014–2022===
[[File:СБУ блокувала діяльність фінансової піраміди, 02.jpg|thumb|SBU agents and [[Alpha Group (Ukraine)|Alpha Group]] operators during a raid against organizers of a [[pyramid scheme]] in 2020]]
In February 2014, numerous documents, hard drives, and flash drives, including data on over 22,000 officers and informants, were stolen or destroyed in a raid on the SBU allegedly ordered by President [[Viktor Yanukovych]].<ref name=Mash141230 />

Late February 2014 opposition MP [[Hennadiy Moskal]] released papers that showed the SBU had allegedly infiltrated the late 2013 – February 2014 anti-government [[Euromaidan]] protest.<ref name="usbbbc28214">[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26368479 Ukraine: Security services 'infiltrated protest groups'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423173806/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26368479 |date=April 23, 2016}}, [[BBC News]] (February 28, 2014)</ref> According to [[BBC Ukrainian|BBC Ukraine]] analyst [[Olexiy Solohubenko]], many tactics discussed in the paper had indeed been performed.<ref name="usbbbc28214" />

After the overthrow of Yanukovich in the [[Revolution of Dignity]] the new SBU head [[Valentyn Nalyvaichenko]] claimed to have found his new office building empty, saying "the agency's former leadership had all fled to Russia or [[Crimea]]. There were no operative files, no weapons. Institutionally, the place was totally destroyed".<ref name="voausb26715">[https://www.voanews.com/a/ex-ukrainian-spy-chief-russian-camps-spreading-chaos/2877981.html Ex-Ukrainian Spy Chief: Russian Camps Spreading Chaos], [[Voice of America]] (July 26, 2015)</ref> Nalyvaichenko also claimed that at that time the agency was heavily infiltrated by Russian spies.<ref name="voausb26715" /> Indeed, Nalyvaichenko predecessor [[Oleksandr Yakymenko (politician)|Oleksandr Yakymenko]] with about 15 former SBU top officials surfaced in Russia a few days later.<ref name=Mash141230 /> Allegedly in the months following the Revolution of Dignity thousands of Ukrainian spies switched sides and began reporting to Russia during the [[2014 Crimean crisis]] and the [[2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine|pro-Russian unrest]] in [[East Ukraine|east]] and [[south Ukraine]].<ref name=Mash141230 /> At the end of 2014 235 SBU agents, including the former counterintelligence chief and his cousin, and hundreds of other operatives had been arrested and 25 [[high treason]] probes against Yanukovych-era SBU officials had been launched; also all regional directors had been changed, as well as half of their deputies.<ref name=Mash141230 /> In July 2015 Nalyvaichenko claimed "There's no longer a total infiltration of Russian agents. The danger is no longer widespread".<ref name="voausb26715" /> The arrested agents were replaced by new recruits from [[western Ukraine]], many of them in their early twenties.<ref name=Mash141230 /> To test loyalty, all SBU agents are subjected to recurrent interrogations and [[lie detector]] tests.<ref name=Mash141230 />

In June 2015, the ''[[Kyiv Post]]'' reported that a deputy chief of the SBU, Vitaly Malikov, had supported events leading to the [[annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|annexation of Crimea]].<ref name=KP150628 /> According to February 2016 official figures of the [[Ukrainian parliament]]ary Committee on National Security, after Russia's annexation 10% of SBU personnel left Crimea.<ref>{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/02/8/7098237/ After the annexation left only 10% of staff SBU] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209094509/http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/02/8/7098237/ |date=February 9, 2016}}, ''[[Ukrayinska Pravda]]'' (February 8, 2016)</ref> According to the SBU itself (in November 2017) 13% did so.<ref>{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2017/11/7/7160923/ After the annexation, only 217 SBU officers went to the mainland] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108035802/http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2017/11/7/7160923/ |date=November 8, 2017}}, ''[[Ukrayinska Pravda]]'' (November 7, 2017)</ref>

In 2016, [[Amnesty International]] and [[Human Rights Watch]] reported that the SBU operates [[Secret detention centers of SBU|secret detention facilities]] where civilians are held incommunicado being subjected to improper treatment and torture.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur50/4455/2016/en/ |title=Ukraine: "You don't exist": Arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and torture in Eastern Ukraine |author=Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch |date=July 21, 2016 |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=February 22, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207015151/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur50/4455/2016/en/ |archive-date=February 7, 2018}}</ref>

In 2017, the [[United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine]] (HRMMU) expressed concerns about a situation with "freedom of opinion and expression" in Ukraine which facing "mounting challenges". According to the UN reports the SBU is taking advantage of broad interpretation and application of Ukrainian Criminal Code against independent Ukrainian journalists, bloggers, and media activists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/UAReport20th_EN.pdf |title=Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 August to 15 November 2017 |website=www.ohchr.org |publisher=United Nations |access-date=February 28, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228223256/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/UAReport20th_EN.pdf |archive-date=February 28, 2018}}</ref> According to reports of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the SBU personnel is responsible for multiple cases of human rights abuses including sexual violence and torture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/UAReport19th_EN.pdf |title=Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 May to 15 August 2017 |publisher=United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights |access-date=February 22, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20171202184420/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/UAReport19th_EN.pdf |archive-date=December 2, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/ReportCRSV_EN.pdf |title=Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Ukraine 14 March 2014 to 31 January 2017 |publisher=United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights |access-date=February 22, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207015148/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/ReportCRSV_EN.pdf |archive-date=February 7, 2018}}</ref>

A new fifth directorate of SBU was created in 2015 to act as a saboteur force. It was associated with several assassinations of prominent pro-Russian commanders in Donbas: [[Alexander Zakharchenko]], [[Mikhail Tolstykh]] and [[Arsen Pavlov]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Inside Ukraine's assassination programme |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/09/05/inside-ukraines-assassination-programme |access-date=7 September 2023 |publisher=The Economist |date=5 September 2023}}</ref>

On December 21, 2017, two Ukrainian civil servants were arrested by the SBU for spying on behalf of Russia, one of them being an SBU employee while the other, Stanislav Yezhov, worked for various cabinet ministers.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last=Sharkov |first=Damian |url=https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-two-russian-spies-arrested-double-agents-inside-kievs-own-ranks-755504 |title=Ukraine Arrests Two 'Russian Spies' as Double Agents Inside Kiev's Ranks |date=December 21, 2017 |access-date=October 19, 2020}}</ref>

In late 2018, the SBU carried out raids across the country targeting the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)]] churches and priests.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vasina |first1=Olena |last2=Williams |first2=Matthias |title=Ukraine's security service raids home of Russian-backed monastery head |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-church/ukraines-security-service-raids-home-of-russian-backed-monastery-head-idUSKCN1NZ1I1 |publisher=Reuters |date=November 30, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine raids Orthodox churches with Russia ties |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20181203-ukraine-raids-orthodox-churches-russia-ties-putin-poroshenko-azov-crimea |work=France 24 |date=December 3, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine set to establish new church, secure split from Russia |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/ukraine-set-establish-church-secure-split-russia-181215075840519.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=December 15, 2018}}</ref>

On July 8, 2019, the SBU announced that they conducted a raid into areas held by the [[Donetsk People's Republic]] to apprehend Vladimir Borysovich Tsemakh, who was head of the air defense in [[Snizhne]] and a 'person of interest' when a [[Buk missile system|Buk missile launcher]] was used to [[Malaysia Airlines Flight 17|shoot down MH17]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/07/09/the-arrest-of-vladimir-tsemakh-and-its-implications-for-the-mh17-investigation/ |title=The Arrest of Vladimir Tsemakh and Its Implications for the MH17 Investigation |work=[[Bellingcat]] |date=July 9, 2019 |access-date=October 19, 2020}}</ref> The SBU mentioned that he's a witness to the incident.<ref>{{cite news |last=Luhn |first=Alec |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/05/ukraine-captures-separatist-believed-linked-mh17/ |title=Ukraine captures separatist believed to be linked to MH17 |work=Telegraph |date=July 5, 2019 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-date=July 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705170347/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/05/ukraine-captures-separatist-believed-linked-mh17/}}</ref>

On April 14, 2020, the SBU announced the arrest of Lt. General {{Ill|Valeriy Shaytanov|uk|Шайтанов Валерій Альбертович}}, who was recruited in 2014 by the FSB during a Russian-Ukrainian anti-terrorist working group under the command of Colonel {{Ill|Igor Anatolievich Egorov|uk|Єгоров Ігор Анатолійович}}.<ref name="News">{{cite news |url=https://ssu.gov.ua/en/news/1/category/2/view/7448#.8kZ9Tb1n.dpbs |title=SBU exposes a general working for the Russian FSB |work=Security Service of Ukraine website |date=April 14, 2020 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-date=April 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426044328/https://ssu.gov.ua/en/news/1/category/2/view/7448}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-sbu-fsb/30552781.html |title=Служба безпеки України: затриманий генерал, який працював на ФСБ Росії |trans-title=Security Service of Ukraine: detained general who worked for the FSB of Russia |work=[[Radio Svoboda]] |date=April 14, 2020 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |language=uk}}</ref> He was known to head the anti-terrorist division who had played a prominent role in negotiating ceasefires and prisoner exchanges with Russia-backed militants in Eastern Ukraine.<ref name="News" /> He had planned the future assassination of [[Adam Osmayev]], a Chechen in the [[Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion|International Peacekeeping Battalion named after Dzhokhar Dudayev]] which is defending Ukraine against Russia aggression.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-valery-shaitanov/30882633.html |title=Офіс генпрокурора направив до суду справу генерала СБУ Шайтанова, якого підозрюють у держзраді |trans-title=The Prosecutor General's Office sent to court the case of SBU General Shaitanov, who is suspected of treason |work=[[Radio Svoboda]] |date=October 8, 2020 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Стек |first1=Левко (Stek, Levko) |last2=Гриценко |first2=Олексій (Gritsenko, Alexey) |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/29365156.html |title=Адам Осмаєв про замахи, Аміну Окуєву і чеченців на Донбасі. Ексклюзивне інтерв'ю |trans-title=Adam Osmayev about the assassination attempts, Amin Okuyev and the Chechens in Donbas. Exclusive interview |work=Radio Svoboda |date=July 16, 2018 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |language=uk}}</ref>