Zelensky administration trying to influence Bellingcat investigation, media report

President Zelensky and his entourage are nervous about
the possible consequences of the expected release of a Bellingcat investigation
into the failure of the special operation to capture a group of Russian Vagner
mercenaries, zn.ua reported on March 6. According to the news site, the
attempts to undermine the international investigation of the operation’s
failure included pressure on former head of Defense Ministry Main Intelligence
Administration Vasyl Burba to prevent his cooperation with Bellingcat and a
request to a top official at MI6 to influence Bellingcat in late February made
by a top Ukrainian military intelligence official and the president’s office
deputy head. Also, as reported by the censor.net chief editor, head of
presidential office Andriy Yermak called Christo Grozev of Bellingcat to
“discuss how to explain his position and learn what will be in the film.”

Recall, the operation to capture the Wagner
mercenaries was reportedly planned for late July 2020,
but was postponed on the demand of Yermak after a meeting in the presidential
office on July 24. Yet the mercenaries were detained in Belarus on July 29 and
were later extradited to Russia, which was marked as a failure of the operation.
Burba reportedly suspected a leakage of the information from the participants
of the July 24 meeting, which led to the operation’s failure.

According to zn.ua, among the suspected sources of the
leakage are Yermak and Ruslan Demchenko, deputy secretary of the National
Security and Defense Council. If the Bellingcat report points at some leakage
from the presidential office, Zelensky will have to react, or his reputation
will be severely damaged, zn.ua concluded.

James Hydzik: The Bellingcat report might represent a high hurdle for the Zelensky
administration. This is because the leak is not an isolated problem. Media
reported that when Zelensky visited the UK in October, MI6 told him
specifically that he had a mole in his administration. Zelensky’s lack of
action prevented the matter from dying a quiet death. Now, with a change in the
American geopolitical background, and Zelensky’s own choosing sides, as
evidenced by his closure of pro-Russian media belonging to Viktor Medvedchuk,
Zelensky will have to either confirm his move away from Moscow possibly by
sacrificing Yermak or, more likely waffle through the minefield he laid with
half-measures and a public distancing from Yermak.