Former SBU general Naumov breaks silence in BBC Ukraine interview, implicates Presidential Office in smear campaign

BBC Ukraine journalist Oksana Torop shared insights with Radio NV on Feb. 16 regarding a recently released interview with former Ukraine’s SBU Security Service general Andriy Naumov, deemed a traitor in Ukraine.

“We met him in Belgrade,” Torop began with a brief of backstory.

“We recorded for two days because it was very difficult to talk to him. He is not a public person, he gave an interview for the first time in his life. And as I understand it, he didn’t really give any comments (to the media): although there were a lot of accusations, the man didn’t react to them at all. That’s why he answered very briefly, he was nervous”.

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Naumov attributed the smear campaign against him to the Presidential Office but initially withheld specific names during the initial interview and “just kept silent” on this question.

“But after we recorded the interview, I turned off the recorder and said: ‘You know, it will be strange if you say A and don’t say B. That is, you talk about the presidential office that ordered the campaign against you, but you don’t mention a name. Then what’s the point?’”

He thought about it and said after a while: “I’m ready,” leading to a subsequent discussion on the presidential office, which was recorded the following day.

The BBC Ukraine interview with Andriy Naumov was published on Feb. 14.

In November 2023, BBC Ukraine reported that one reason for Serbia’s refusal to extradite Naumov to Ukraine was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s accusation of treason.

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Following the invasion, Naumov became implicated in the treason case of former SBU headquarters chief in Crimea, Oleh Kulinich. Investigations suggested Kulinich facilitated Naumov’s appointment to a high-ranking SBU position in early 2020, allegedly at the behest of Russian special services. Naumov, identified by the call sign “Okhotnyk” (Hunter), was suspected of ties to Russian special services.

During a speech on Mar. 31, 2022, Zelenskyy announced the stripping of Naumov’s military rank, emphasizing consequences for traitors. However, as of November 2023, no treason charges had been filed against Naumov.

In Serbia, parallel trials for Naumov involved extradition and money laundering charges. On Oct. 5, the Serbian court denied extradition, citing concerns of political persecution, referencing Ukrainian investigations into Naumov’s alleged treason, previous assassination attempts, and Zelenskyy’s accusations.

In June 2022, Naumov was arrested at the Serbia-North Macedonia border with undeclared funds totaling over EUR 600,000 ($646,000) and approximately $125,000 in cash and valuables.

He began working at the SBU after Ivan Bakanov took over in 2019, where he managed the internal security of the special service. He held his position until July 2021.

Naumov commenced his tenure at the SBU under Ivan Bakanov’s leadership in 2019, overseeing internal security until July 2021. He departed Ukraine on Feb. 23, 2022, accompanied by associates. Law enforcement searched his residences in March 2022 as part of the treason investigation, leading to Zelenskyy revoking Naumov’s brigadier general rank on March 31, 2022.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine