KIEV, July 1 – Ukraine’s SBU security service may have been acting on a tip from Russian spies when it recently attempted to deport a Western analyst, a former senior SBU official said Thursday.

The Russian intelligence officials contacted their Ukrainian counterparts shortly before Niko Lange, the head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s Kiev office, was detained at Boryspil airport.

“The certain consultations were held with the Russian colleagues who had lately increased their activity in Ukraine,” Oleksandr Skipalskiy, a former deputy chief of SBU, said at a press conference.

SBU declined to comment on the case.

The detention of Lange - who was eventually released and allowed to enter Ukraine on Sunday after 10 hours of high level talks - triggered a diplomatic scandal threatening Kiev’s efforts of establishing closer ties with the European Union.

However, it may de-facto benefit Russia, which has been seeking to forge even closer foreign policy alliance with Ukraine and with other former Soviet nations.

“I believe one can feel the influence of the northern neighbor,” Oleksandr Skybenetskiy, a former first deputy chief of SBU, said. “This reminded me of the time of the USSR when [the Soviet government considered] it had been surrounded by enemies.”

Both, Skybenetskiy and Skipalskiy, are close allies of Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister and the leader of the largest opposition group in Parliament.

The alleged role of Russian intelligence officials in Ukraine comes amid growing evidence that Russian spies have been increasingly seeking to infiltrate policy making circles around the globe.

The U.S. authorities have earlier this week arrested 10 alleged deep cover Russian spies whose primary task had been apparently to penetrate the policy making circles in the U.S.

Oleg Gordiyevsky, a former Soviet spy who operated in London before defecting to the West, said in his blog there may be as many as 400 Russian spies currently operating in the U.S.

For comparison, Gordiyevsky said there may be between 10 and 12 American spies operating in Russia.

The German authorities on Wednesday demanded that Ukraine must properly investigate the detention of Lange or to face a reaction from the German government.

Günter Krichbaum, the chairman of the EU Affairs Committee at German Bundestag, called on the Ukrainian leadership to “take the issue seriously.”

He said German lawmakers were “very concerned” about the incident that may delay a political association agreement currently under discussion between Ukraine and the European Union.

Lange earlier this year issued a critical report about the progress of reforms in Ukraine and the status of freedom of speech following the election of Yanukovych to the presidency in February.

Hanna Herman, a deputy chief of staff at the Yanukovych administration, said the Ukrainian authorities had “very serious arguments” for stopping and attempting to deport Lange.

But she declined to elaborate. (tl/ez)