Denis Kireev, a Member of Ukraine’s Negotiation Team, Has Been Killed: Reports

Denis Kireev, a member of the Ukrainian delegation (R, furthermost back of table) with other members of delegations from Ukraine and Russia, attend talks in Gomel region, Belarus, on Feb. 28, 2022. (Sergei Kholodilin/BELTA/AFP via Getty Images)

A member of the Ukrainian negotiation team in talks with Russia, Denis Kireev, has been killed, according to reports.

Ukraine’s military intelligence confirmed his death in a Facebook post on Saturday. It said that Kireev was an intelligence operative who was killed on Saturday in the line of duty while defending Ukraine.

“They died, defending Ukraine, and their act brought us closer to victory! On behalf of the Chief Management of Intelligence, we express our sincere condolences to the families of the deceased,” the statement said. “Heroes don’t die! They live until we remember them! Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!”

However, other outlets have reported a different version of events surrounding Kireev’s death, in an unofficial capacity or citing anonymous sources.

Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Dubinsky posted on his Telegram channel: “During the arrest by the SBU officers, a member of the first Gomel delegation of Ukraine, Denis Kireev, was killed. Suspected of treason,” he wrote, according to a Google translation.

Dubinsky is the deputy chairman for the Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament. He asked on Telegram, “How did [Kireev] get into the Ukrainian delegation for negotiations with the occupiers—I really want to find out from the Office of the President?”

Eastern European news source Nexta reported that Kireev was “liquidated by the Security Service of Ukraine during his detention on suspicion of treason.”

“The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s main intelligence service said that Denys Kireyev was killed while carrying out a special assignment,” according to Nexta. “There is no information about his treason or liquidation by the Ukrainian special services.”

Ukrainian online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda reported that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) killed “a member of Ukrainian negotiations team suspected of treason,” per English-language Ukrainian outlet The Kyiv Independent. “Strong evidence ’that he was leaking information to Russia,'” the outlet reported.

The Epoch Times cannot independently verify the reports.

Kireev is an expert in the banking sector. According to Dubinsky, Kireev was the Deputy General Director at SCM Finance from 2006 to 2008. He then worked at SLAV AG, an Austrian company in Vienna.

Kireev was also the First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Oschadbank (the State Savings Bank of Ukraine) from 2010 to 2014, and was a member of the Supervisory Board of Ukreximbank (the State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine) from 2006 to 2012.

Kireev was present during the first round of Ukraine-Russia talks in Gomel, Belarus, on Feb. 28, when he was last photographed. The first round of negotiations yielded no progress.

The second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine began on March 3, in the Brest region, Belarus. There was no ceasefire agreement upon the conclusion of the talks but the two sides agreed to set up humanitarian and evacuation corridors, a top Ukrainian official said.

The third round of negotiations will be held on March 7, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia announced in a Facebook post.