A state security officer who was Ukraine's counterintelligence chief in the final weeks of former President Viktor Yanukovych's rule has been arrested on suspicion of "high treason."
The head of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, said in a televised interview late on November 9 that Volodymyr Bik is suspected of helping "a foreign country to prepare saboteur activities in Ukraine."
Nalyvaychenko said Bik was arrested on November 8.
He had been appointed on February 5, weeks before Yanukovych fled to Russia following huge protests over his decision to abandon plans to tighten ties with Europe.
Nalyvaychenko said investigators are still searching for former SBU chief Oleksandr Yakymenko, who is wanted for alleged giving a command to shoot at the protesters.
Yakymenko and Bik disappeared after Yanukovych’s ouster.
Nalyvaychenko said 25 high treason probes have been launched against Yanukovych-era SBU officials.
