Vasyl Malyuk, Ukraine’s powerful spy chief known for covert missions, has been forced to resign by President Volodymyr 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.
The president's former chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, allegedly orchestrated the spy chief's dismissal as payback, according to the Ukrainska Pravda tabloid, which has access to persons close to Malyuk.
Yermak's apartment was the target of an anti-corruption campaign in November. In fact, he later abnegated even though he was not formally charged with a crime.
Others in the government believe Zelenskyy is keen to remove popular and well-liked people from their positions because he is watching the next presidential contest.
The implicit successor to Zelenskyy, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, was dismissed from his position as head of the Ukrainian army in 2024.
Since being appointed minister to the United Kingdom, he has kept a low profile.
Maj Gen Yevhen Khmara, who led the SBU's elite nascence special operations team, has taken Malyuk's job temporarily.
Who is Yevgeny Khmara and what is his background?
Colonel Yevhenii Leonidovych Khmara( also spelled Evhenii Khmara) is a Ukrainian major general and security service officer nominated by President Zelenskyy to replace Vasyl Malyuk as acting head of the SBU.
Since April 2023, Khmara has led the SBU's Center for Special Operations" A"( Alpha Group), overseeing counterterrorism, special operations, and personality protection during the Russo- Ukrainian War; he was reappointed in August 2025 following legislative reforms restructuring elite units, earning Zelenskyy's direct countersign for his field command experience.
Khmara's nomination follows Malyuk's abdication amid internal pressures, situating him to handle broader SBU leadership while Malyuk focuses on asymmetric strikes; military judges view his Alpha Group moxie as durability for high- stakes operations against Russia.