Russian defector saved from kidnapping to Russia, SBU claims

Officials at the Security Service of Ukraine rescued ex-FSB officer and blogger Ilya Bogdanov from captivity as he was allegedly in the process of being moved to Russia, SBU Chief Vasyl Hrytsak said at a Nov. 18 press briefing.

Bogdanov defected from Russia after the annexation of Crimea, and joined the war against Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas in 2014. He had been missing since Nov. 12.

“Through a special operation we interrupted an organized criminal gang of Ukrainian citizens controlled from Russian Federation that was intending to kidnap and kill a man who has become a Ukrainian citizen,” said Hrytsak.

Bogdanov, who served as an officer in the Federal Security Service of Russia, or FSB, from 2005-2014, received a Ukrainian passport in 2015 after leaving the army. During his time in service, he fought in the battle of Donetsk Airport.

Bogdanov was allegedly kidnapped on Nov. 12. After his friends filed a report with Ukrainian law enforcement, the National Police opened a criminal proceeding and launched a search operation on suspicion of homicide.

Hrytsak said that the SBU got information that kidnappers were planning to transfer Bogdanov to Russia from Kharkiv Oblast. They were arrested a few miles away from the Russian border. After several hours of questioning, the alleged kidnappers told the Ukrainian authorities that Volodymyr Rozsokha, ex-lawmaker of the Kharkiv Oblast council, was also involved in the kidnapping.

After his return, Bogdanov wrote on Facebook that he is safe and wished glory to Ukraine and its law enforcement as they “totally destroyed the Russian allies, and showed the Russians who is boss in Ukraine”.

“Those skunks were ordered to kill me, I heard that with my own ears. The SBU arrested everybody except the coward Russians, waiting for me on the other side of the border,” wrote Bogdanov. “They kidnapped me and kept me in Kyiv for several days, handcuffed me and put a sack on my head,” he added.

This is allegedly the second attempt on Bogdanov’s life made by Russian Special Forces. In 2015 Markiyan Lubkisvsky, the SBU chief’s senior advisor, told the press that the SBU had arrested a Russian citizen and sniper from Pro-Russian volunteer battalion Oplot, who had been ordered to kill Bogdanov. For that, the FSB allegedly promised him a substantial financial reward.

But Bogdanov said that his recent kidnapping had also changed his career path.

“No more attempts on my life, because I have decided to join Ukraine’s Security Service,” Bogdanov wrote on Nov. 18. “I will file the documents soon and become its press officer.”