KYIV. UkraineGate . 19 . August .2022 l Political News .
A draft law has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada, which actually all counterintelligence activities fall within the jurisdiction of the Security Service of Ukraine. Currently, the text of the bill is not yet available on the parliament’s website .
The draft law on amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine on strengthening the capacity of counterintelligence actors in countering large-scale military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine (7684) was initiated by a number of people’s deputies from the Servant of the People faction, including Mariana Bezuhla and Yurii Kamelchuk.
Details of the bill
According to the explanatory note to the draft law, its purpose is “to improve counterintelligence activities, to strengthen the capacity of the subjects of its implementation to counteract the intelligence, subversive and terrorist activities of the special services of the aggressor state and its “supporters” during the legal regime of martial law, including using hybrid forms and methods (collaborators, traitors, criminal elements, etc.) to conduct subversive activities against Ukraine, (…) formed in accordance with the laws of Ukraine, as well as the search for persons missing under special circumstances, including in connection with the armed conflict, hostilities”.
The draft law proposes to introduce into the legislative field of Ukraine the definition of a number of terms, in particular, “counterintelligence activities”, “counterintelligence support”, etc. It is proposed to expand the definition of the tasks of counterintelligence activities:
- “extraction, analytical processing and use of information on signs or facts of intelligence and subversive, terrorist and other activities of foreign states and their structures, as well as organizations, individual groups and persons to the detriment of ukraine’s state security;
- countering intelligence and subversive, terrorist and other activities of foreign states and their structures, as well as organizations, individual groups and individuals to the detriment of Ukraine’s state security;
- extraction, analytical processing and use in the interests of counterintelligence of information on threats to state security and risks of state security, intentions, plans and actions of foreign states and their structures, as well as organizations, individual groups and persons or their potential to implement such intentions, plans and actions and / or about processes, events, circumstances, technologies, knowledge that may contribute to the implementation of threats to state security or increase state security risks;
- development and implementation of measures to prevent, eliminate and neutralize threats to state security, as well as risk management to the state security of Ukraine”, – for comparison, the current legislation does not contain a part on the extraction and processing of intelligence information, and also does not mention countering intelligence and subversive activities.
What does the SBU have to do with it?
Currently, the law on counterintelligence activities stipulates that “The Security Service of Ukraine is a specially authorized body of state power in the field of counterintelligence activities” – such a change is proposed – “The Security Service of Ukraine is a specially authorized state body in the field of counterintelligence activities” – as if nothing has changed much. However, in the future, the lawmakers propose to introduce a novelty: “During the legal regime of martial law, the coordination of counterintelligence activities of counterintelligence entities is carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine in the manner prescribed by regulatory legal acts of the Security Service of Ukraine.” That is, the “fullness of power” in counterintelligence will pass to the SBU during martial law.
Scandal in the faction
When the bill was registered and submitted for review to colleagues in the faction from the “servant of the people”, the document caused a very mixed reaction.
Mariana Bezuhla, who is known for her desire to reform the SBU, especially lobbies him among people’s deputies. However, her colleagues did not understand her attempts to turn the Security Service into a body with unlimited possibilities during the war. According to sources in the faction, Bezuhla even removed herself from the factional chat for a while to demonstrate her dissatisfaction with colleagues who did not support her.
Source: Ukrgate