Washington (CNN) Police in Ukraine are investigating the possible surveillance of former US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, the country's Interior Ministry announced Thursday.

The criminal investigation into possible spying on Yovanovitch is in response to the US House Intelligence Committee's publication of notes suggesting she was illegally spied on in Ukraine, the ministry said.

Texts released earlier this week by House Democrats that were turned over to them by indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas show Connecticut Republican congressional candidate Robert Hyde berating Yovanovitch and suggest he was monitoring her while she was in Kiev and relaying her movements to Parnas. Hyde declined to comment to CNN when asked if he had surveilled Yovanovitch, who served as a key witness in the House impeachment probe into President Donald Trump.

The US State Department has not responded to multiple inquiries from CNN about the potential surveillance of Yovanovitch and whether it will open its own investigation.

However, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel, wrote in a letter Wednesday his staff had received a personal commitment from Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Michael Evanoff that the department would open an immediate investigation into the matter.

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