Roman Chervinsky

Roman Hryhorovych Chervinsky (; born on 2 August 1974, is a Ukrainian military, counterintelligence officer, colonel of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), former head of the 5th Directorate of the Counterintelligence Department of the SBU, acting commander of the military unit of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (SSO).

Operations involving Chervinsky

The elimination of war criminals Pavlov Arsen Serhiyovych (call sign "Motorola") (2016) and Tolstykh Mykhailo Serhiyovych (call sign "Givi") (2017) in the occupied territory of Ukraine.

Recruitment of Dryuk Svitlana Mykolaivna, deputy commander of the separatist 11th Regiment "Vostok" (call sign "Veterok") and her subsequent transfer from the occupied territory to the territory controlled by Ukraine (2019). Dryuk stated that she was ready to testify in court about the presence of Russian troops in Donbas (2018).

The capture, removal from the occupied city of Snizhne, Donetsk region, and transportation to Kyiv of pro-Russian militant Volodymyr Tsemakh, involved in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) near Donetsk (2019). He was an important witness for the Hague Tribunal. Kyiv handed the witness over to Moscow as part of a prisoner exchange.

Ukrainian intelligence agents, disguised as a security company at Rosneft, managed to smuggle out of Russia dozens of key Wagner Group militants involved in war crimes in Ukraine. The special operation was supposed to end with a forced landing of the plane carrying the militants in Ukraine. But at the last moment, the intelligence agents met with the political leadership and "postponed" the operation.

One of the most high-profile operations developed by Chervinsky was an attempt to lure and detain militants of the Russian private military company Wagner Group in Ukraine in the summer of 2020. Ukrainian intelligence officers, disguised as a security company for Rosneft, managed to smuggle 33 key militants involved in war crimes in Ukraine from Russia to Belarus. The special operation was supposed to end with the forced landing of the plane carrying the militants in Ukraine and the detention of the militants. But at the last moment, the intelligence officers met with the Ukrainian political leadership and received an order to postpone the operation. Immediately after that, the Wagner members were arrested in Belarus and extradited to Russia. Chervinsky suggested that the failure of the operation occurred due to a leak of information from the Office of the President of Ukraine.

The operation to seize a Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft, which was carried out at the initiative of the SBU and was coordinated with the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The operation resulted in losses in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (2022).

''The Washington Post'' claims that Chervinskiy may have coordinated the Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage, namely managing the logistics and support of a six-person team that rented a sailboat and used diving equipment to plant explosives. The article claims that the operation was designed so that Volodymyr Zelensky did not know about it, and that everyone involved in its planning and execution reported directly to Valery Zaluzhny. Both Chervinsky and Zaluzhny deny their involvement in the pipeline sabotage.

Persecution

The country's political leadership categorically denied the fact of the operation to capture the Wagner Group militants. On August 5, 2020, Zelenskyy dismissed Burba from the position of head of the State Security Service. Four direct participants in the operation with the Wagner group were dismissed, some were transferred to lower positions to intimidate, some were transferred to other units.

In September 2020, the head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak called this operation "a detective story, fabricated from beginning to end," and Zelensky - "a delusion". But after the Bellingcat investigation, Zelensky still admitted: the GUR was planning some kind of operation, but did not receive approval from the OP. The term " Wagnergate" appeared in Ukraine.

Four direct participants in the operation with the Wagner group were dismissed. Some were not dismissed, but transferred to lower positions to intimidate, he assures. Some were transferred to other units.

On April 24, 2023, the SBU detained Chervinsky in the first fabricated case - the shelling of the Kanatove airfield (near the city of Kropyvnytskyi) in 2022. He was suspected of abuse of power. Since April 25, 2023, Chervinsky was arrested and held behind bars in the SBU detention center in Kyiv.

According to the SBU, at the beginning of the war, the Ukrainian military tried to recruit a Russian pilot to fly the plane to Ukraine. But the enemy fired missiles at the Ukrainian airfield where the Russian plane was waiting. Then the commander of the military unit was killed, and 17 more servicemen were injured. Chervinsky allegedly did not coordinate the operation with the "relevant state bodies." Chervinskyi and his defense denied the charges. The case was called politically motivated.

Chervinsky's lawyers stated that the for the prosecution is the news of the Russian propaganda channel "Russia-24", which states that Chervinsky informed the Russians about the location of people and equipment at the airfield. The witness interrogation protocols have disappeared from the case files, in particular, two interrogation protocols where they report circumstances that completely negate the charges against Chervinsky. The defense has challenged the prosecutors.

Chervinskyi's lawyers filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights and the ECHR began considering the complaint.

On June 6, 2024, approximately 50 people filed statements of readiness to take Roman Chervinskyi on bail in the Kirovohrad District Court. One of the key witnesses - Chervinskyi's immediate commander clearly indicated that during the existence of the working group there were no facts of Roman Chervinskyi exceeding his authority, and he reported the fact that there is no causal connection between the special operation and the Russian shelling. However, the court left Chervinskyi in custody.

On July 15, 2024, the Kirovohrad Region Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the Kirovohrad District Court and changed the preventive measure from detention to a bail of 9 million 84 thousand hryvnias. On July 16, the bail was posted by the Petro Poroshenko Charitable Foundation. But Chervinskyi was released from custody only the next day.

Judge Iryna Oleksienko, who set the bail, filed a complaint with the High Council of Justice regarding interference in her professional activities. The intervention is carried out by the prosecutor with the involvement of operational units of the SBU. On September 24, 2024, the Shevchenko Court of Kyiv ordered the State Bureau of Investigation to open criminal proceedings regarding interference in the activities of Iryna Oleksienko, a judge of the Kropyvnytskyi Court of Appeal. This court decision was never implemented.

Already on July 18, 2024, the Shevchenko Court of Kyiv sent Chervinsky to house arrest on a new charge - in the case of a bribe of $ 100,000. Chervinsky called the case falsified, it concerns the events of 2020. Lawyer Kostyantyn Globa stated that this case has been pending for several years, and the video of the alleged bribery was recorded illegally, edited and falsified. Chervinsky was informed of the suspicion in this case in December 2023.

The motion to release Chervinsky on bail was filed by Petro Poroshenko, all MPs from the European Solidarity faction, participants in the Revolution of Dignity and the war against Russia. During the court hearing, Poroshenko pointed out the lies of the prosecutors. A fight almost broke out in the courtroom, but all the motions to release him on bail were ignored by the court. The court sent Roman Chervinsky under house arrest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chervinsky, Roman
Living people
1974 births
Recipients of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 2nd class
Recipients of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd class
National Academy of the Security Service of Ukraine
Ukrainian military personnel of the Russo-Ukrainian War