The military espionage case began with claims that a Postmedia journalist had ties to Russia: sources

Canada’s military counter-espionage unit, accused of passing sensitive information to Ukraine, is involved in an investigation into allegations that a Canadian defense journalist was a longtime Russian asset.

Two sources with knowledge of the case tell CBC News that Master Warrant Officer Matthew Robar was assigned to look into allegations that Postmedia reporter David Pugliese was recruited by the KGB in the early 1980s.

These startling allegations were made public before the House of Commons committee on public safety on October 24, 2024, by former Conservative cabinet minister Chris Alexander, who produced a document of records allegedly from old KGB archives in Kyiv.

Pugliese, a hard-line journalist with the Ottawa Citizen who has exposed wrongdoing and mismanagement at the Department of National Defense for years, has denied the allegations, including appearing before a Commons committee last year.

Robar faces eight charges under the National Security Act and the Information Security Act. He is accused of having unauthorized contact with a “foreign entity,” according to court records.

CBC News confirmed through confidential sources that the person was a representative of the Ukrainian intelligence agency.

As part of his investigation into the Pugliese dossier, Robar was introduced to the person by another Canadian official. That began a relationship that eventually led to charges filed by a veteran intelligence officer on December 10.

A seven-page document about Pugliese’s alleged ties to Russian intelligence mysteriously surfaced in Eastern Europe in 2023 and Ukraine’s intelligence service (DIU) was given a copy, according to two confidential sources, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the investigation.

Ukraine’s general intelligence agency, in turn, forwarded the dossier to Canadian intelligence and “provided assistance” in the investigation, the sources added.

‘Symptoms’ of Russian disinformation

However, the suspicions – inside and outside – of the intelligence communities in both countries that the documents are part of an elaborate Russian information campaign designed to discredit the masses of Canadians, sow confusion in the political ranks and institutions of the Canadian Ministry of Defense and create a border between Canada and Ukraine.

“It has all the hallmarks of a Russian intelligence operation, which you know they’re very knowledgeable about,” said national security expert Wesley Wark. “You can’t say they’re geniuses at it, but they have, what, 100 years and experience doing these kinds of operations.”

A spokesperson for the Ukrainian Embassy in Canada did not comment on Robar’s case, or the allegations contained in Pugliese’s letter.

“Out of respect for the important work of the media, we would like to note that the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada does not comment on allegations or information provided by anonymous or anonymous sources,” said Marianna Kulava, who added that the embassy was not contacted by the Canadian authorities.

“We deeply value our close and friendly relationship with Canada, and we are very grateful for all the strong and principled support that Canada and Canadians continue to provide to Ukraine.”

Unclassified court records, filed as part of the national security case against Robar, showed he was warned to stay away from a foreign intelligence attorney, who sources said he was initially looking for as part of the Pugliese investigation.

Allegations made by military prosecutors say Robar was denied permission to work with the man, who was trying to ask for money to do a different job, the court said.

Military prosecutors also said that while dealing with a foreign intelligence agent, Robar revealed the identity of another Canadian intelligence officer who was working undercover. He is also believed to have shared a Canadian intelligence investigation conducted on an associate.

It was also alleged that Robar tried to build a direct relationship with the National Intelligence Service and even talked about working for them.

None of these allegations have been proven in court.

Pugliese says he was not contacted by Robar

It remains unclear how much of the alleged activity is related to the Pugliese dossier investigation.

There is nothing in the seven pages that Alexander presented to the House of Representatives following his testimony to prove that Pugliese was doing any work for the KGB, the predecessor of the FSB, Russia’s modern intelligence service – or that he was even aware of the Soviet’s apparent interest in him.

In an interview with CBC News, Pugliese said he had never been contacted by Robar – or the Department of Defense – about the allegations against him or the investigation launched into the dossier.

“I didn’t know there was any kind of investigation,” said Pugliese, who added that he wondered why the military’s intelligence service would be involved and not the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

“I think the thing I should have done would have been to contact me and ask me questions about what I thought about this so-called dossier.”

All the documents in question predate the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

“One of the first things — everyone calls them documents,” Pugliese said. “That’s what they are, photostats and we don’t know where they came from. So, everyone accepted them anonymously, and they’ve been floating around for a long time I don’t know. That should set off the alarm bells, whether this is an FSB operation or this, I don’t know, mistakes.”

The researcher asks the type of document of the file

The dossier, Pugliese said, contained many blatant errors, including where he lived when the Soviets were interested in him and falsely painted him as a left-wing student activist.

Giuseppe Bianchin, an independent researcher, looked at the documents that Alexander presented to the committee and argues – after consulting several experts – that the dossier is a forgery.

“These pages alleging the employment of David Pugliese by the KGB are undoubtedly modern lies, designed with deliberate deception,” Bianchin wrote in the report.

Bianchin said he contacted Erik van Blokland, a typeface expert and designer, about the text that appeared to be produced by a typewriter.

Van Blokland argued that the text could not be produced on a typewriter and pointed out that duplicating dust on certain letters could not be reproduced on a typewriter. In addition he suggested that the repeated presence of dust spots is a sign of Trixie Cyrillic, a typewriter van Blokland invented in the early 1990s – years after the texts were said to be created.

CBC News reached out to both van Blokland and one other expert named in the report, both of whom confirmed that their analysis as presented by Bianchin was accurate.

Bianchin, when asked what motivated him to spend time and energy trying to clear the Canadian journalist’s name, said he did not know. Bianchin, a Michigan resident, told CBC News in recent weeks that he took a personal interest in the case while taking an online journalism course.

His report continues to be muddled about this case.

CBC News spent months trying to independently verify the authenticity of both the dossier involving Pugliese and the counter-dossier report. Those efforts have so far been unsuccessful.

Pugliese and Postmedia have been sued for his reporting on allegations of mismanagement within the Ukrainian charities Mriya Aid and Mriya Report. Both have Canadian connections.

Pugliese said he was only doing his job — trying to hold the government accountable. And if the dossier is an attempt to sow confusion, he says he did so in spades.

“It’s certainly put people in government and other places chasing their tails, as everyone is trying to, you know, say that, or prove, that I’m some kind of deep Russian-cover, as I’ve said many times, it’s not just a lie, it’s completely ridiculous,” Pugliese said.