Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Skipalskyi ( uk, Олександр Олександрович Скіпальський, born March 12, 1945) is a Ukrainian military officer and spy. For over 20 years he worked as a Soviet border guard and military counterintelligence. Skipalskyi was born on March 12, 1945, in a village of Vyzhhiv (today in

Liuboml Raion Liuboml Raion ( uk, Любомльський район) was a raion in Volyn Oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center was the town of Liuboml. The raion was abolished and its territory was merged into Kovel Raion on 18 July 2020 as pa ...

). Born in the

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austria ...

, he was growing up in

Yenakieve Yenakiieve ( uk, Єна́кієве, ''Yenákiieve'', ; russian: Ена́киево, ''Yenákiyevo'') is a city in the Donetsk Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It is incorporated as a city of oblast significance (a special status within t ...

(

Eastern Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khark ...

) where he finished a high school and vocational college. In 1968 Skipalskyi graduated the Moscow Border Guard military college, after which he served for the border guard troops in Ukraine. In 1975 Skipalskyi graduated the KGB Higher School and served as a counterintelligence agent in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

(

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

and

Kuril islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...

). In 1987 Skipalskyi returned to Ukraine where he served in special divisions of KGB. In October 1990 Skipalskyi was excluded out of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

. In 1990-92 he worked for the agricultural bank "Ukraine". In 1992-97 Skipalskyi was the head of Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the

Ministry of Defence of Ukraine Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

where along with Mykola Kuzmin, he organized practically a completely new intelligence agency on an empty spot. During that time Skipalskyi also was elected the People's Deputy of Ukraine. In 1997-2004 Skipalskyi worked as a deputy chairman of the

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( uk, Служба безпеки України, translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}) or SBU ( uk, СБУ, link=no) is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukrainian ...

, a deputy minister of Emergencies, an adviser to the minister of Justice. In 2004 he headed the security service of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko. In 2006-07 Skipalskyi was a chief of the regional office of

Donetsk Oblast The Donetsk Oblast ( ukr, Донецька область, Donetska oblast, ), also referred to as Donechchyna ( ukr, Донеччина, links=no), is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 mill ...

External links

Profile
at the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

website.
Profile
at the Official Ukraine Today portal.
Interview with Skipalskyi
at the Oral history of Ukraine
Interview with Skipaslkyi
on the poisoning of Yushchenko and the experience of working in Donetsk Oblast {{DEFAULTSORT:Skipalskyi, Oleksandr 1945 births Living people People from Volyn Oblast FSB Academy alumni Ukrainian military personnel Ukrainian spies People of the Chief Directorate of Intelligence (Ukraine) Lieutenant generals of Ukraine KGB officers Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Party of Democratic Revival of Ukraine politicians Second convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Recipients of the Honorary Diploma of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine