Ukraine (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Ukraine’s intelligence chief Vasyl Malyuk, architect of high-profile covert operations against Russia, has been forced to resign by President Zelenskyy.
In a meeting with the president on Monday, Vasyl Malyuk, who was named the Hero of Ukraine last year, reportedly gave up his position as head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Malyuk said he will stay with the SBU to oversee “world-class asymmetric special operations” against Russia after announcing his retirement on the agency’s official Telegram channel.
He wrote:
“I am leaving my post as head of the Security Service. I will stay in the system to carry out operations that continue to inflict maximum damage on the enemy. A strong, modern intelligence service is key to our state’s security.”
Zelenskyy announced that Malyuk, who was in charge of Operation Spiderweb, the audacious destruction of Russia’s strategic bombers last year, would now be in charge of unconventional warfare.
He said:
“I had a meeting with Vasyl Maliuk. I thanked him for his combat service and proposed that he focus on this line of work specifically.
There must be more Ukrainian asymmetric operations against the occupier and the Russian state and more solid results in eliminating the enemy.
This is where Vasyl is at his strongest, and this is exactly what he will continue to do within the Security Service of Ukraine.”
When a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles emerged from lorries and attacked strategic bombers on airfields deep within Russia in June of last year, causing an estimated $7 billion in damage, Malyuk was praised.
According to the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, which has access to people close to Malyuk, Andriy Yermak, the president’s former chief of staff, planned the spy head’s termination as retaliation.
In November, an anti-corruption disquisition included a hunt of Yermak’s flat. Indeed though he was no way officially charged with a crime, he later abnegated.
Others in the government suppose Zelenskyy is eager to remove well- known and well- liked individuals from office because he has an eye on the forthcoming presidential race.
In 2024, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who had been bandied as Zelenskyy’s implicit successor, was removed from his post as commander of Ukraine’s army.
He has maintained a quiet profile since being appointed minister to the United Kingdom.
Maj Gen Yevhen Khmara, who led the SBU’s elite nascence special operations team, has taken Malyuk’s job temporarily.
How will Maliuk staying in SBU affect operational command?
Vasyl Maliuk’s uninterrupted presence in the SBU, leading a devoted asymmetric operations unit, will probably streamline rather than disrupt functional command structures.
Maliuk retains direct authority over high- impact operations like Operation Spiderweb, freeing the new SBU chief, Colonel Yevhen Khmara, to concentrate on executive and intelligence duties; Zelenskyy emphasized spanning up special forces experience without losing Maliuk’s political moxie.
This division allows briskly planning and prosecution of deep- strike drone and sabotage operations, with full political backing and coffers to make Ukraine’s asymmetric warfare” world- class,” potentially adding strike frequency against Russian means while maintaining clear command lines.
