[13] Amid President Putin's discontent with intelligence failures over the invasion of Ukraine which began on 24 February 2022, on 11 March investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov reported that Beseda and his deputy Anatoly Bolyukh were under house arrest.

[16] On 11 April, The Times of London reported that Beseda had been transferred to the infamous Lefortovo Prison, scene of mass executions during Stalin's purges.

[17] Soldatov speculated that Russian authorities suspected Beseda of having passed information to the CIA,[18] amid reports afoot that Putin had purged 150 FSB careerists.

[17] On 19 August, however, The Washington Post said that U.S. and other intelligence communities doubted that Beseda had been demoted or imprisoned, quoting "a senior US official" as saying, "We have pretty good reason to believe that he’s still in the job.

[20][21] On 11 October 2023, according to the message of the head of the State Government Kyrylo Budanov, "Beseda continues to perform his official duties.