Military intelligence operative accused of lying to superiors over Ukraine contacts

A Canadian military counter-intelligence operative, accused of passing sensitive information to Ukraine, was warned repeatedly to stay away from a representative of that country's intelligence service and lied about the contacts he did have, military court records allege.

Master Warrant Officer Matthew Robar faces eight charges under the National Defence and Security of Information acts, including communicating "special operational information" to a foreign entity.

The records, part of an unclassified filing before a military judge, allege that the veteran operative, who once taught at the Canadian Forces School of Military Intelligence in Kingston, Ont., was "never authorized" to meet with the representative or use them as a confidential source.

The court filing also alleges Robar revealed the identity of another Canadian intelligence officer "who has been or is intended to be covertly engaged in an information gathering or intelligence activity" on behalf of Canada.

It says he is also believed to have shared the Canadian intelligence assessment that had been done on the person he was allegedly dealing with.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The country involved is not named in the court records, but CBC News has established through confidential sources that it's Ukraine, an important ally. Similarly, the "foreign entity" to whom he was talking with hasn't been identified.

Robar, it was also alleged, attempted to establish a direct relationship with the country's defence intelligence agency and even discussed possibly going to work for them.

The court filing establishes that Robar was introduced to a foreign intelligence representative by a Canadian official in the course of looking into several "concerns related to the CAF [Canadian Armed Forces]."

The two struck up an ongoing conversation about an unidentified, "unconventional" project. The court records allege the foreign country was interested in obtaining allied funding and support for the project.

Robar, the records allege, tried to get both funding for the project and approval to work on it, but was denied.

Filing alleges operative was 'obsessed'

Despite the setbacks, prosecutors claim, he persisted and investigators were told by witnesses that Robar had become "obsessed" with the project.

He met the representative of Ukraine's intelligence agency in late September 2024. Sources tell CBC News the meeting took place in Lithuania.

One other unnamed Canadian military member was present. The filing says that member believed the trip had been authorized, but it was not.

Robar allegedly claimed to one superior officer that he took his wife — a member of the Canadian foreign service — to the meeting.

"Investigators now believe that Robar lied about the interaction and that implicating his wife was a deliberate attempt to minimize the impact of his meeting with the foreign entity," said the documents.

In late September 2024, Robar was apparently warned by a Canadian officer about dealing with the Ukrainian representative. And in the course of that warning, the officer disclosed the intelligence assessment done on the representative, which Robar is alleged to have shared.

The records say Robar was confronted about the clandestine discussions, which his superiors had learned about shortly after his return from Europe.

He was ordered to write reports about each discussion and "investigators later discovered Robar lied in these reports," the documents said.

Robar was temporarily relieved from duty in October 2024. Shortly thereafter, the court records say the foreign intelligence representative sent an email of complaint to a Canadian diplomat.

The documents allege the note threatened exposure of the situation.

A transcript of Robar's custody hearing on Monday quotes both the military prosecutor and defence counsel as saying the alleged actions of the accused do not rise to the level of the spy case a decade ago, where former naval intelligence officer Jeffrey Delisle passed secrets to Russia — a crime for which he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Robar faces court martial in the new year and the security of information charges carry the possibility of life in prison.