Ukraine’s security services of Ukraine case against Dmytro Koziura ended on June 25 with a life sentence for treason. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said the former head of the SBU counter-terrorism department was found guilty after a case built around secret material passed to Russia.
The sentence leaves Koziura facing life in prison for conduct prosecutors said included defense information, critical infrastructure details, and material linked to Russian missile strikes against Kyiv. The court found him guilty under martial law, turning a wartime espionage case into one of the most severe punishments available under Ukrainian law.
Ruslan Kravchenko details the case
Kravchenko said Koziura was recruited by the FSB in Vienna in 2018 and stayed in constant contact with Russian handlers from that point. He said Koziura undertook to collect and pass on defense information in exchange for a monetary reward.
That sequence matters because the case did not begin with the full-scale invasion in 2022. By then, Koziura’s role had already shifted into that of an active agent, according to Kravchenko, giving the prosecution a timeline that stretched from recruitment to wartime transmission of information.
Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi District Court
During the war, Koziura systematically transmitted information about the consequences of missile strikes on objects in Kyiv, the locations of SBU units, data from military units, official documents, and analytical materials. The SBU said Russian intelligence also sought personal information about Ukraine’s senior military and political leadership.
The SBU said Koziura passed confidential information on critical infrastructure, particularly Ukraine’s gas transportation system, and plans to increase air defense at those facilities. The agency detained Koziura in February 2025 after a lengthy covert investigation, and the operation carried the code name Operation Rat.
What the prosecution used
The prosecution also relied on telecommunications devices and other material evidence of Koziura’s collaboration with the FSB. Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi District Court found him guilty of committing treason under martial law, closing the first phase of a case that began with covert surveillance and ended in a life sentence.
Ruslan Kravchenko said after the sentence: “Anyone who wore Ukrainian shoulder boards and began working for the FSB becomes an enemy of Ukraine,” and “Only the harshest punishment is appropriate for such individuals.” The case now stands as a stark example of how Ukraine is treating wartime breaches inside its own security ranks.
What specific evidence convinced Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi District Court that Koziura passed state secrets to Russia remains the open question that still hangs over the case.
