You're reading: Official: Czech diplomats collected classified military information in Ukraine (updated)

Two Czech diplomats engaged in espionage in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Security Service reports.

"Defense attache of the Czech embassy Col. Zdenek Kubicek and military attache Maj. Petra Novotna were engaged in spying activities and collected classified military-technical and military-political information," press secretary of the service Maryna Ostapenko said at a briefing in Kyiv.

She said that the Czech intelligence officers using their diplomatic status tried to collect information from their informers about Ukraine’s international military cooperation and also about the latest military R&D, including information constituting state secrets.

An employee of Civil Aviation Plant №410 had access to information about results of aircraft R&D results in Ukraine. Kubicek recruited him for collaboration with the Czech intelligence, Ostapenko said.

"During his contacts with the Ukrainian citizen Kubicek received documents related to the prospects of the operations of Pivdenmash state-owned enterprise, programs of developing Antonov An-70 and An-178 aircraft and also documentation on the Adros active protection system for aerial vehicles," Ostapenko said.

The Czech diplomat was also interested in results of Ukrainian R&D in tank construction and satellite navigation for Oplot tanks and aerospace systems at Pivdenne design bureau for Russia.

Kubicek used Novotna for his contacts with his informer S. According to Ostapenko, in February S supplied the Czech diplomat with the electronic copy of an agreement for the repair and upgrade of An-32 aircraft for the Indian Air Force containing confidential information the leak of which would significantly damage Ukrainian national security.

Ostapenko said that the other instance of spying by Czech diplomats concerned the Ukraine Defense Ministry.

To obtain classified information about the development of the latest samples of weaponry and military hardware Defense Ministry major L was recruited. For five years at orders from Czech special services for compensation she made copies of classified documents the operations of military training institutions and transferred this information to the Czech military intelligence during her travels abroad and in Ukraine.