Russia asked Ukraine to extradite its own secret service chief

According to Russian diplomacy, Vasyl Malyuk “planned the bombing of the Crimean bridge in October 2022 and disclosed details of the organization of other terrorist attacks in the Russian Federation”.

Russia announced this Sunday, March 31, that it has asked Ukraine to extradite the head of the Ukrainian Secret Service (SBU) and others who, according to it, have been involved in “terrorist attacks” on its soil. Kyiv immediately rejected these requests, deeming them “worthless” and “insolent”.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had asked Ukrainian authorities to “immediately arrest and extradite” SBU chief Vasyl Malik and others, invoking two international conventions against terrorism.

“The Russian side demands that the Kyiv regime immediately cease all support for terrorist activities, extradite those responsible and compensate the victims for damages,” the statement added.

“Void” and “idle” demands

It is unclear how Russia delivered these requests, as Kiev severed diplomatic ties with Moscow shortly after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The SBU called him “worthless” and “blameless”. “Statements about terrorism are particularly reprehensible coming from a terrorist country,” he said.

Earlier in the week, Vasyl Malyuk, 41, who has led the SBU for a little over a year, mocked an arrest warrant issued against him by a Russian court on Tuesday as part of an investigation into a deadly explosion. 2022 on the Crimean Bridge, which connects Russia to this connected peninsula.

Crimea was annexed by Moscow in 2014 but is recognized internationally as part of Ukraine. In an interview broadcast Monday evening on Ukrainian channel ICTV, Vassyl Maliouk also detailed high-profile attacks in Russia.

The exchange comes as Russia continues to claim that Kiev was involved in the March 22 attack on a concert hall in Moscow’s suburbs, without providing evidence and while the Daesh group has claimed responsibility.

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