MINSK (Sputnik) — Belarus' State Security Committee (KGB) has detained in Minsk a citizen of Ukraine, Pavlo Sharoyko, on charges of creating an agent network in Belarus, KGB spokesman Dmitry Pobyarzhin said Monday.
"On October 25, the KGB… detained a staff member of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate Pavlo Sharoyko. Taking into account his experience as head of the press service of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, he was appointed as a correspondent of the public National TV and Radio Company of Ukraine," Pobyarzhin told reporters, additing that Sharoyko "created an intelligence network from among the citizens of Belarus, which for monetary rewards performed tasks to collect intelligence information in the military and political sphere."
Pavlo Sharoyko, a reporter for Ukrainian Radio, was detained in Belarus. https://t.co/rU5z9f7wRH
— 112 News (@112NewsFeed) 17 ноября 2017 г.
Pobierzhin stressed that Sharyoko had admitted his work as an Ukrainian intelligence officer working undercover.
Aditionally, CEO of National Television Company of Ukraine Zurab Alasania wrote on his Facebook page that “according to our unofficial information in Belarus, he faces the standard accusation for foreign reporters – espionage".
The observer UA was arrested: Ukrainian Radio in Belarus, Ukrainian citizen Pavlo Shariko.
The Embassy in Belarus still refuses from the officials requests.
According to unofficial information, he faces a standard allegations for foreign correspondents — "espionage".
Meanwhile, Ukrainian radio notes that there was no contact with the reporter for two weeks, and all attempts to reach him or his relatives were unsuccessful. The Embassy of Ukraine in Belarus hasn’t confirmed or refuted the information yet.