Canadian military counterintelligence operative to face court martial in spy case

Master Warrant Officer Matthew Robar faces trial month over alleged dealings with Ukrainian intelligence

A Canadian military counter-intelligence operative accused of passing sensitive information to a foreign entity will face a court martial month.

Master Warrant Officer Matthew Robar, who had originally been charged with eight offences under the National Defence Act, will be tried on three counts beginning Dec. 9, the office of the chief military judge said in a statement on Wednesday.

He was accused of communicating "special operational information" to a foreign entity, which was not identified at the time of his arrest almost a year ago.

A CBC News investigation at the time of his arrest reported that he was accused of passing sensitive information to Ukraine.

The three charges Robar now faces include negligent performance of a military duty, claiming that between September 2024 and February 2025 he had "an unauthorized relationship with a foreign entity and shared unauthorized information with that person."

The second charge is prejudice of good order and discipline, where he is accused of lying to his superior officers the extent of his dealing with the foreign individual.

He's also charged with improperly storing a firearm.

Operative accused of leaking secrets was trying to help Ukraine: sources

Operative accused of leaking secrets was trying to help Ukraine: sources

How a Canadian military intelligence operative ended up facing an espionage charge

How a Canadian military intelligence operative ended up facing an espionage charge

Case started with claims that Postmedia journalist is linked to Russia: sources

Case started with claims that Postmedia journalist is linked to Russia: sources

The statement from the chief military judge did not explain why the prosecutor is not moving forward on the other more serious charges, including communicating special operational information to a foreign entity and one count of breach of trust.

CBC News has confirmed through confidential sources that the individual to whom Robar is allegedly to have passed sensitive information was a representative of Ukraine’s defence intelligence agency.

He was introduced to that individual by another Canadian official and it is that association which is at the heart of the case against him.

Confidential sources told CBC News last year that the allegations against Robar stem from a Canadian military counterintelligence investigation into claims that a leading Canadian defence journalist was a longtime Russian asset.

The sources said Robar was tasked to look into claims that Postmedia journalist David Pugliese had been recruited by the KGB in the early 1980s.

Those sensational allegations were made in public before the House of Commons committee on public safety on Oct. 24, 2024, by former Conservative cabinet minister Chris Alexander.

A dossier of records purportedly from old KGB archives in Kyiv were tabled with the committee by Alexander.

Pugliese, a hard-charging journalist with the Ottawa Citizen, has exposed wrongdoing and mismanagement at the Department of National Defence for years.

Military intelligence operative accused of lying to superiors over Ukraine contacts

Military intelligence operative accused of lying to superiors over Ukraine contacts

Canadian military intelligence operative accused of leaking secrets released from custody

Canadian military intelligence operative accused of leaking secrets released from custody

Canadian military intelligence member charged with espionage, says DND

Canadian military intelligence member charged with espionage, says DND

He has vehemently and repeatedly denied the allegations, including in his own appearance before the same Commons committee in 2024.

In an interview with CBC News last year, Pugliese said no one in the Canadian military contacted him and he had no idea a counterintelligence investigation was underway. He also said the seven-page dossier tabled in Parliament contains a number of errors.

According to two confidential sources, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the investigation, the dossier on Pugliese’s alleged Russian intelligence ties mysteriously surfaced in Eastern Europe in 2023 and Ukraine intelligence's directorate (DIU) was handed a copy.

Nothing in the dossier proves that Pugliese carried out any assignments for the KGB, the predecessor of the FSB, Russia's modern-day intelligence service — or that he was even aware of the apparent Soviet interest in him.

An independent researcher, who claims to have been fascinated by the case, produced a separate report, which claims the allegations against Pugliese were fabricated.

Senior reporter, defence and security

Murray Brewster is the senior defence writer for CBC News, based in Ottawa. He has covered the Canadian military and foreign policy from Parliament Hill for over a decade. Among other assignments, he spent a total of 15 months on the ground covering the Afghan war for The Canadian Press. Prior to that, he covered defence issues and politics for CP in Nova Scotia for 11 years and was bureau chief for Standard Broadcast News in Ottawa.

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