Shot dead by the Security Service of Ukraine while being detained on suspicion of treason at the beginning, Denis Kireev, on the eve of the Russian invasion, warned Ukrainian intelligence about Moscow's plan to seize Kyiv. This is reported by The Wall Street Journal, based on financial and intelligence documents, interviews with US and Ukrainian officials, current and former Ukrainian security forces, as well as with family, friends, security guards and business partners of Kireev..

We are talking about a 45-year-old banker, a member of the first Gomel delegation of Ukraine, Denis Kireev, who was accidentally shot dead by SBU officers in early March during his detention in Kyiv.

The Wall Street Journal notes that Denis Kireev was killed as a traitor due to the fact that he allegedly spied for Moscow. But a few days later, according to the publication, he was buried as a hero next to the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (Zlenko Anatoliy Maksimovich - ed..

According to the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, General Kirill Budanov, Kireev passed on information from his Russian contacts that helped Ukrainian forces successfully defend the capital in February..

“If not for Kireev, most likely, Kyiv would have been taken,” Budanov said..

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed documents on awarding Kireev with a posthumous medal "

The publication notes that over the years, Russia has invested billions of dollars to infiltrate Ukrainian political and intelligence circles and find their informants there..

“Kireev at different times belonged to both opposite camps. He traded careers in Western financial institutions to manage the money and assets of two wealthy brothers with close ties to Russian-backed Ukrainian politicians.. The work paid off Mr. Kireev's real estate, car park and vacation in Greece and Paris. It also cast a shadow over his reputation among officials and colleagues concerned about Russian influence..

Also, as the newspaper notes, Budanov said that Kireev developed ties with European intelligence services, as well as Russian military and officials..

He accepted the dangerous task of representing Kyiv in ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine at the start of a full-scale invasion.. According to one of Kireev's friends, he "

Recall that during the negotiations between delegations from Ukraine and the Russian Federation at the beginning of a full-scale war, the Ukrainian side proposed creating a conflict-free 30-kilometer zone around all nuclear facilities, but then it was not supported.