Ukraine sentences former counter-terrorism chief to life for treason

A Kyiv court sentenced former Security Service of Ukraine counter-terrorism official Dmytro Kozyura to life in prison on June 25 for high treason under martial law, after prosecutors said he agreed to share state secrets and systematically passed classified material to Russia. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said the case exposed the seriousness of Russia’s wartime infiltration efforts inside Ukraine’s security system.

Kozyura had been the head of the SBU Anti-Terrorist Center staff, a post that gave him access to some of the most sensitive information in the country’s security apparatus. Prosecutors said he forwarded secret information to the Federal Security Service, including details about critical infrastructure in Kyiv, the consequences of Russian missile strikes on the capital, defense data, and information about attacks on business centers, wounded military personnel, civilians, and other classified material.

The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv handed down the sentence after a case that reached into the heart of Ukraine’s wartime counterintelligence problem. Ukrainian media said Kozyura was detained in February 2025 in an SBU operation code-named Rat, and that the service documented 14 instances of illegal activity. The SBU chief, Vasyl Malyuk, personally detained him, underscoring the sensitivity of a case involving a senior officer charged with betraying the agency he once served.

The alleged spying stretched back years. One account said Kozyura was recruited by the FSB in Vienna in March 2018, long before Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Prosecutors said his activity intensified after the invasion began in 2022, when Ukraine’s security services were under immense pressure to protect military movements, critical infrastructure, and the civilian population from Russian strikes and sabotage.

The case has become a stark example of the vulnerability Kyiv faces inside its own institutions. A colonel who once coordinated counter-terrorism efforts was accused of helping the enemy map the damage from missile attacks and track sensitive state information during wartime. His life sentence closes the courtroom phase of the case, but it also leaves open the broader question of how much damage a senior intelligence officer could do before Ukraine caught him.