SSU: One of the Kremlin’s Supporters of “SMO” Detained in Moldova

The Security Service of Ukraine has reported the detention of Dmytro Chystylin together with foreign partners and the State Border Service. Ukraine calls him a “Kremlin upstander of Russia’s armed aggression”. “The detainee is an aide to Putin’s ex-advisor Sergey Glazyev, one of the main ‘moderators’ of the seizure of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and the developer of the ‘information war strategy’ that justified Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During 2016-2024, Chystylin prepared a number of ‘analyses’ for the Kremlin in which he supported Russia’s armed aggression and the ‘integration’ of Ukraine’s temporarily occupied regions into Russia. Providing assistance to the Russian special services, the plotter became the author of numerous publications aimed at carrying out information sabotage against our state,” society.comments.ua wrote. The Ukrainian media reports that Chystylin was actively involved in promoting the Kremlin’s interests outside Russia. Among other things, he organized interference in election processes in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe in favor of Moscow. Acting allegedly on behalf of the Ukrainian public, the subject took part in holding so-called roundtables in European countries. During such events, he broadcasted Kremlin narratives in the hope of reducing support for Ukraine from Western partners. After Chystylin’s participation in one of such “forums”, he was detained in cooperation with law enforcement officers of the Republic of Moldova while trying to return to Moscow through the territories of third countries. Thanks to comprehensive measures, Chystylin, who left Ukraine even before the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, is now in custody and has received suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine at once: ▪️ para. 2 of Article 111 (high treason committed under martial law); ▪️ para. 3 of Article 436-2 (justification, recognition as lawful, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants). According to investigation, he has assisted the Russian military intelligence, in particular in creating mechanisms to circumvent the sanctions imposed against Russia. He faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.