Russia Asks Ukraine To Handover Security Service Chief

Russia has asked Ukraine to handover Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the country’s SBU Security Service and others connected with terror acts committed in Russia. The Ukraine government termed the demand as “pointless”.

The Russian foreign ministry in a statement listed out incidents that have happened since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and said that the investigation of these incidents showed that “the traces of these crimes lead to Ukraine”.

“Russia has turned over to Ukrainian authorities its demands … for the immediate arrest and extradition of all those connected to the terrorist acts in question,” the statement said.

Maliuk, who features high up on the list, has acknowledged his role behind the attacks on the bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland since the Kremlin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The bridge was built after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

“The Russian side demands that the Kyiv regime immediately cease all support for terrorist activity, extradite guilty parties and compensate the victims for damages,” the press statement added.

Meanwhile, the Ukraine government has said that Russian president Vladimir Putin has an arrest warrant against him issued by the International Criminal Court in connection with the transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia and said “the tribunal in The Hague is waiting for him”.

The recent attack in a concert hall in Moscow killed 144 people. Though Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the attack, Russian forces have repeatedly said that they Ukrainian hand.

The investigators said last week that they have concrete proof that the concert hall gunmen were all linked to “Ukrainian nationalists”, a claim Ukraine has rubbished.

Russia news agencies have reported that Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s most important criminal investigation body, was working to determine who was behind the attack and said that the case would be cracked soon.