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{{Anchor|Vladlen Tatarsky}}

{{Anchor|Vladlen Tatarsky}}

The SBU and its military counterpart, the GUR, have carried out dozens of assassinations against Russian officials, alleged Ukrainian collaborators, military officers behind the front lines and civilians inside Russia.  Training sites were located outside Kyiv where handpicked recruits were instructed by CIA personnel to form units capable of operating as covert groups. The SBU began mounting sabotage operations and missions to capture separatist leaders and collaborators, some of whom were taken to secret detention sites. Over a three-year period, at least half a dozen Russian operatives, high-ranking separatist commanders or collaborators were killed in violence that was often attributed to internal disputes but in reality was the work of the SBU. Among those killed was Yevgeny Zhilin who was gunned down in 2016 in a [[Moscow]] restaurant. In 2017 a rebel commander known as ‘Givi’ was killed in [[Donetsk]].<ref>[https://youtu.be/p8KJ53Ulzc0 1000's attended the DPR's Givi funeral procession in Donetsk today.] Patrick Lancaster, Feb 10, 2017. YouTube</ref> In July 2023, a former Russian submarine commander, Stanislav Rzhitsky, was killed while jogging in a park in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar. A popular war correspondent and blogger, '''Vladlen Tatarsky''', was killed in a blast in a cafe in [[St. Petersburg]]. 32 innocent bystanders were injured in the targeted assassination.

The SBU and its military counterpart, the [[GUR]], have carried out dozens of assassinations against Russian officials, alleged Ukrainian collaborators, military officers behind the front lines and civilians inside Russia.  Training sites were located outside Kyiv where handpicked recruits were instructed by CIA personnel to form units capable of operating as covert groups. The SBU began mounting sabotage operations and missions to capture separatist leaders and collaborators, some of whom were taken to secret detention sites. Over a three-year period, at least half a dozen Russian operatives, high-ranking separatist commanders or collaborators were killed in violence that was often attributed to internal disputes but in reality was the work of the SBU. Among those killed was Yevgeny Zhilin who was gunned down in 2016 in a [[Moscow]] restaurant. In 2017 a rebel commander known as ‘Givi’ was killed in [[Donetsk]].<ref>[https://youtu.be/p8KJ53Ulzc0 1000's attended the DPR's Givi funeral procession in Donetsk today.] Patrick Lancaster, Feb 10, 2017. YouTube</ref> In July 2023, a former Russian submarine commander, Stanislav Rzhitsky, was killed while jogging in a park in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar. A popular war correspondent and blogger, '''Vladlen Tatarsky''', was killed in a blast in a cafe in [[St. Petersburg]]. 32 innocent bystanders were injured in the targeted assassination.

While building the SBU’s new directorate, the CIA embarked on a far more ambitious project with Ukraine’s military intelligence service. From 2015 on, the CIA embarked on an extensive transformation of the GUR. With fewer than 5,000 employees, the GUR was a fraction of the size of the SBU and had a narrower focus on espionage and active measures operations against Russia. It also had a younger workforce with fewer holdovers from [[Soviet]] times, while the SBU was still perceived as penetrated by Russian intelligence. Some of the GUR’s new recruits were transfers from the SBU. Among them was Vasyl Burba, who had managed SBU Fifth Directorate operations before joining the GUR and serving as agency director from 2016 to 2020. Burba became such a close ally of the CIA that the CIA provided him an armored vehicle.

 

While building the SBU’s new directorate, the CIA embarked on a far more ambitious project with the '''Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine'''. From 2015 on, the CIA embarked on an extensive transformation of the GUR. With fewer than 5,000 employees, the GUR was a fraction of the size of the SBU and had a narrower focus on espionage and active measures operations against Russia. It also had a younger workforce with fewer holdovers from [[Soviet]] times, while the SBU was still perceived as penetrated by Russian intelligence. Some of the GUR’s new recruits were transfers from the SBU. Among them was Vasyl Burba, who had managed SBU Fifth Directorate operations before joining the GUR and serving as agency director from 2016 to 2020. Burba became such a close ally of the CIA that the CIA provided him an armored vehicle.

The CIA helped the GUR acquire state-of-the-art surveillance and electronic eavesdropping systems, including mobile equipment that could be placed along Russian-controlled lines in eastern Ukraine, but also software tools used to exploit the [[cellphone]]s of [[Kremlin]] officials visiting outside of Moscow. Ukrainian officers operated the systems but everything gleaned was shared with the Americans.

The CIA helped the GUR acquire state-of-the-art surveillance and electronic eavesdropping systems, including mobile equipment that could be placed along Russian-controlled lines in eastern Ukraine, but also software tools used to exploit the [[cellphone]]s of [[Kremlin]] officials visiting outside of Moscow. Ukrainian officers operated the systems but everything gleaned was shared with the Americans.