Ukrainian Military Says Agent Detained in Crimea Was Dismissed From Army in May

KIEV (Sputnik) — The Ukrainian agent detained in Crimea earlier this month over plotting acts of sabotage on the peninsula was dismissed from the Ukrainian Armed Forces in May 2017 for professional incompetence, Yuzef Venskovych, the deputy head of the Public Relations Department of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said that Gennadiy Limeshko was detained on Saturday, August 12, while attempting to damage power lines near the Sudak-Novy Svet highway in southern Crimea. Limeshko, a senior reconnaissance scout with the Ukrainian military, is also suspected of planning to spark forest fires and cause rockfalls in the same region. According to a footage released by the FSB, Limeshko admitted his guilt.

"According to preliminary data, this was a citizen of Ukraine that served in one of the units of Ukraine’s Land Forces. In May, he was dismissed … for professional incompetence of this former serviceman," Venskovych said, as quoted by the UNIAN news agency, adding that at the moment Limeshko "has no connection" to Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

Earlier in the day, spokesman of the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service Oleg Slobodyan said, as quoted by the UNN news agency, that Limeshko legally crossed the administrative border with Crimea on August 9 and carried no forbidden items. Slobodyan also confirmed that Limeshko is a Ukrainian citizen.

In December, Republic of Crimea head Sergei Aksyonov said that in 2016 alone, local authorities prevented 13 attempted terrorist attacks, with the detainment of Ukrainian sabotage groups being the most resonant of them.