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Ukrainian television channel TSN has reported details of the detention in Kyiv of Belarusian journalist Inna Kardash, who was arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine on suspicion of spying for the Belarusian KGB.
According to the report, Security Service officers had been monitoring Kardash for many years, but she acted cautiously, erased all evidence, frequently changed phone numbers, destroyed mobile phones, agreed to personal meetings with handlers only abroad, and “fully used feminine charms in her intelligence work.”
In 2016, Inna Kardash, a young Belarusian journalist, was introduced to the head of a “leading Ukrainian news agency” during a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk. The television channel did not disclose the editor’s name “for ethical reasons.”
“She was 25, he was 55. And he fell for it — they say he couldn’t take his eyes off her. At that time, Kardash was already an active agent of the KGB — the State Security Committee of Belarus. According to the legend, she was an opposition journalist, so she fearlessly cooperated with Ukrainian media and talked about life in Minsk,” TSN said.
In 2020, Kardash covered protests in Belarus and later moved to Ukraine, claiming she faced danger at home. She began working for a Ukrainian media outlet, later identified as Interfax-Ukraine, despite not knowing the Ukrainian language. She was provided with a personal driver, lived in a separate house, and worked not in the newsroom with other journalists, but in the office of the editor-in-chief.
“Colleagues say that sometimes they could not enter his office to consult on work matters because she was always there and always listening,” the report said.
Kardash regularly met with national leaders at unofficial meetings, traveled abroad to international conferences, and communicated with diplomats as a journalist until the death of her patron. She reportedly showed particular interest in Chinese diplomats.
Such activity attracted the attention of the Security Service of Ukraine’s Department for the Protection of National Statehood.
“She used this job and the contacts of her colleagues from this media outlet to expand her own network among Ukrainian politicians, military personnel, and foreign diplomats,” said SBU spokesperson Artem Dekhtiarenko.
As part of the criminal proceedings, the Security Service began closer surveillance of the suspect.
KGB officers transferred money to Kardash for the purchase of her own housing in Kyiv and tasked her with integrating into the International Legion and collecting data on its fighters.
“Surname, first name, patronymic, date and place of birth of people fighting in these units — figuring out later who their relatives are in Minsk, Hrodna, Brest, or Voronezh is a matter of technique — finding these people and exerting pressure on them. And most importantly for Russians and Belarusians was to understand the channels through which foreigners are taken out of the Russian Federation. This entire route was of great interest to Russians. So that these channels could later be broken,” said military expert and former SBU officer Ivan Stupak.
Kardash allegedly used sex to recruit a combat unit commander who had spent several years on the front line. A recording of the attempted recruitment was previously published by the Security Service of Ukraine.
“And no one is forcing you to do anything. At all. If you don’t want to — you don’t have to. This is not the KGB. This is much higher,” Kardash said in the recording.
The fighter whom Kardash attempted to recruit later said he did not report her to the SBU because he had fallen “madly in love.” In correspondence with her handler, Kardash referred to him as “my sucker.”
At the final stage, Kardash was tasked with infiltrating the Chinese embassy to obtain information on Ukrainian-Chinese relations and then securing employment with Ukraine’s military intelligence agency. Ukrainian special services allowed her to do so as part of an operational game.
“Officers of the Belarusian KGB carefully instructed her — how and whom she should approach, what to ask about. And still, the maximum plan for Inna Kardash was to get a job at the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine. Officers of the Security Service of Ukraine, together with the internal security service of the Main Intelligence Directorate, allowed her to do this. Because they also know how to play spies,” TSN said.
Within the intelligence service, controlled information circulated around Kardash, which she passed on to the KGB.
TSN showed footage of Kardash’s detention. She was arrested in a café together with a man in military uniform. During the arrest, he resisted and did not fully understand what was happening. Kardash calmly observed the situation.
Kardash is currently being held in pre-trial detention without the right to post bail. She has been charged under Part 1 of Article 114 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (espionage), which carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property. Former SBU officer Stupak believes Belarus will attempt to secure Kardash’s release through a prisoner exchange.