You can’t make this up. A high-ranking Ukrainian intelligence colonel named Dmytro Kozyura just got hit with a life sentence in Kyiv after getting caught red-handed working for the enemy. This wasn't some low-level street hustler—Kozyura was the chief of staff of the Security Service of Ukraine’s (SBU) anti-terrorism centre. He had all the keys to the castle, but instead of holding down the block, he decided to sell out state secrets to the Russian FSB for a bag of cash.

The Shevchenkivskyy District Court in Kyiv officially locked him up for life after finding him guilty of high treason under martial law and illegal handling of weapons and explosives. According to the Prosecutor General’s office, this man agreed to hand over classified secrets purely for financial reward, making him one of the biggest sellouts since the full-scale war started back in February 2022.

The SBU revealed that the FSB originally recruited Kozyura way back in 2018 in Vienna. He went quiet for a few years, but in December 2024, his handler—a Russian operative named Yuriy Shatalov—hit him back up to start collecting intel. Shatalov wanted everything: where the military was moving, what weapons they had, the layout of critical infrastructure, and where the political and military leaders were hiding.

But Kozyura took it to a real dirty level. He was actively spying on SBU command posts and reporting back on the damage from Russian strikes, including the exact number of wounded soldiers and civilians. He was using a safehouse in Kyiv, thinking he was slick with a separate mobile phone and his own Wi-Fi router to keep in constant contact with his handlers.

What he didn’t know was that the SBU was playing 4D chess with him. Under an operation codenamed "Rat," counterintelligence officers were monitoring his every single step 24/7. They knew about the safehouse, the phone, and the router. But instead of busting him immediately, they decided to run a game on him and his Russian handlers.

While Kozyura thought he was delivering top-tier intelligence, the SBU was actually using him to feed the Russian military a massive amount of straight garbage and disinformation. They kept him completely blocked from accessing any real secrets, turning him into a useless asset before they finally decided to shut the whole operation down.

The SBU finally put the handcuffs on him in February 2025. SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk, who personally ran the sting, even stood next to the disgraced colonel for a photo op after the arrest to let the whole world know they don't play around with snitches.

Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko kept it 100 in his statement after the trial, saying there is absolutely no room for traitors in the ranks. "Anyone who wears Ukrainian epaulets and begins working for the FSB becomes an enemy of Ukraine," Kravchenko said. "Only the harshest punishment is appropriate for such individuals."

This life sentence sends a loud message across the board. Kyiv has been sweeping the streets for Russian agents since the 2022 invasion, and this conviction shows that no matter how high up you are in the organization, if you sell out your people for a check, you're going to end up in a concrete cell for the rest of your days.

Sources: * Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Press Release * Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine * Shevchenkivskyy District Court of Kyiv Court Registry