Alexei Semenyaka, a representative of the RIPE NCC Internet registrar in Eastern Europe, was expelled from Russia. The FSB (Federal Security Service of Russia) suspected the Ukrainian citizen of “intelligence-subversive activities in the interests of Ukrainian special services.
Semenyaka left for his home country on June 3. He was banned from entering Russia for 25 years.
According to the FSB, Semenyaka’s work “for a long time was coordinated by employees of Ukrainian counterintelligence,” in particular, employees of the department of counterintelligence protection of state interests in the sphere of information security of the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine).
At the same time, the agency notes that Semenyaka “did not have time to cause damage to the external security of the Russian Federation.”
The IT security specialist had previously had “personal electronic devices” seized, which “contained messages from SBU employees”.
hose, the FSB said, had offered Semenyaka to help them solve work issues “with the ultimate goal of damaging the security interests of the Russian Federation”. Some “third parties” in Kiev at the same time “tried to remotely destroy data from the mobile device”.
According to the FSB, Semenyaka confirmed that he had maintained “longstanding relations” with SBU representatives and provided them with “diverse consulting assistance”.
Semenyaka has been involved in network technology since 1994. He worked at Megafon, Yandex, and Qrator Labs. Since 2016, Semenyaka has served as director of external affairs and technical advisor at RIPE NCC.
