Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty Images
KYIV—The whole world has seen the impact of Russia’s brutal military onslaught against Ukraine via missiles, drones and artillery shells but another, insidious attack has gone largely unnoticed outside the country: a sprawling network of Russian agents is suspected to be embedded in all aspects of Ukrainian life from parliament to the television networks.
The former governor of Donetsk told The Daily Beast that President Zelensky is not doing enough to extricate pro-Russian political figures and fears that new efforts to empower and streamline intelligence gathering might lead to even more damaging penetration by Russia.
“Kyiv was shining with phosphorus marks that somebody put down for Russian helicopters during the early days of the war,” said Serhiy Taruta, who is now a lawmaker. He fears current Russian espionage is more subtle but just as dangerous.