Ukraine failed to turn the ‘almost botched’ operation into the ‘biggest plus’ for Ukraine, said Christo Grozev in an interview for Radio Novoy Vremya.

Bellingcat lead investigator criticized cover-up of Wagner mercenaries scandal by Zelensky officials calling it the ‘biggest mistake’.

‘If they had acknowledged the operation and published all the [transcripts of the taped] calls, thousands minutes of mercenaries confessions, this could provide evidence for many ongoing court cases, including those in the Hague and Strasbourg’.

By making the story public Ukraine had a chance to expose failings of Russian intelligence agencies as the operation ‘went unnoticed, they failed to follow it’,  added Grozev.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian parlimentary commission presented their own investigation findings on the foiled sting operation that reportedly fell through due to information leaks from Ukrainian top officials.