It sounds like something out of a dark agent thriller: one of the men who sat at the negotiating table in Belarus on Monday at the talks between Russia and Ukraine is dead!
By Philip Fabian
His name: Denis Kireev (other spelling: Kireyev). Kireev (✝︎44, married, three children) was one of the negotiators of the Ukrainian side, took part in the first round of (unsuccessful) talks in the city of Gomel.
There are conflicting reports about the circumstances of his death. One thing is clear: he was killed.
︎ According to the first reports, he was shot by the Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU – when he tried to escape his arrest. Reason: According to this version, Kireev was a Russian agent among the Ukrainians. He is said to have leaked information from the negotiations to Putin’s people – high treason!
This was reported, among other things, by the Ukrainian news site “Pravda”, which referred to confirmation from government circles.
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︎ According to other rumors, he was even a double agent in the service of both countries. Investigative journalist Michael Weiss writes on Twitter, he thinks that’s plausible. And that the SBU eliminated him, too. A former intelligence chief told him that Kireev spent “as much time” hiding enemy spies as he did catching them.
︎ Another Ukrainian secret service – the military intelligence service GUR – contradicted hours later. According to him, Kireev was one of three GUR men who died in a special operation. The military service wrote on its Facebook page that they had rendered their country heroic service and had died with honor in its defense.
It is also known about Kireev that he worked in the banking and private equity business and that he (source: news portal “Obozrevatel”) was already charged in 2020 on suspicion of espionage to Russia. He often traveled to Russia and has connections to oligarchs who work for former President Viktor Yanukovych, who is close to Putin.
The same news portal noticed another bizarre detail: Kireev was not even named as a negotiator on the official list of the Ukrainian presidential office. But photos clearly show that he sat at the table in Gomel alongside representatives of Kiev.