Инна Кардаш. Фото из Facebook
A court in Kyiv has refused to release Belarusian citizen Ina Kardash, who is suspected of espionage, from custody on bail or under a travel restriction order, Radio Svaboda reported.
Kardash appealed the lower court’s decision to keep her in custody, stating that the suspicions against her were based “on assumptions and are not supported by any evidence.” The appeal was considered on May 13. Kardash participated in the court hearing by video link from a Kyiv pretrial detention center.
The court upheld the legality of extending Kardash’s detention until June 14.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and military intelligence agency (HUR) announced Kardash’s detention on January 27. The SBU stated that she had been cooperating with the KGB since 2015. She worked for Viktor Medvedchuk’s television channel 112 and at Interfax Ukraine.
In 2020, Belarusian special services allegedly sent Kardash to work in Ukraine. Her tasks reportedly included collecting information about Belarusians and Russians assisting Ukraine. She was also tasked with establishing contacts with employees of the Chinese embassy in Ukraine in order to gather intelligence on the activities of Chinese diplomats in the country.
In 2025, she allegedly obtained a job at the HUR Coordination Center for Prisoner of War Affairs, where she collected official information by photographing documents and recording staff conversations. According to investigators, she transmitted this data to Belarus.